The Fashion Choices of Miss Evans
by TeenTypist
Summary: Lily and James get into a fight in the common room and James accuses her of never wearing anything girlsih. Where does it lead? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: Fight

_This is just something I came up with. Stupid and depending on the reactions, I might delete it._ The Fashion Choices of Miss Evans 

            They stood across from each other yelling and panting with the effort of their screams. The common room was deserted. It was the Christmas holidays and things were much emptier than usual, though now the two of them were getting in more fights than usual. They couldn't even remember how they got on their current topic.

            "You probably don't even own a dress. You never wear anything remotely girlish!"

            "You don't know squat about me, Potter," she spat.

            "Yes, I do! You're a prissy little thing who always wears her hair up in a fair imitation of McGonagall's. Your shirts always go up to your neck and cover your arms and of course heaven forbid your midriff ever show! You never wear skirts, only pants! Baggy pants at that! Your robes are always wrinkle free and there's never a stain or smudge on them! You don't even wear makeup!"

            "Does it look like I need makeup? I don't think so, but hey, why am I asking? I don't give a rat's tail what you think! Huh? You don't think I own anything stylish, or sexy, or the least bit immodest? Well, you couldn't be more wrong!" She ran up the girl's staircase. She grabbed her whole dresser drawer and brought it out of the dormitory. She was on the top stair when Potter, who had taken it into his head to follow her and see what was going on, stepped on the bottom step. She slid down the stairs and crashed into his arms, landing on top of his stomach with her legs on either side. She put the huge drawer on the ground next to them, crushing James's finger with it. She started pulling articles of clothing out of the drawer and brandishing them in under his nose. "Halter-top! Spaghetti top! Mini skirt! Tube top! Fishnets!" she continued shoving various articles of clothing under his nose and they piled up on his chest. There was halter-top, 2 spaghetti tops, 1 mini skirt, fishnet stockings, a bikini, some longer skirts, shorts, and a few shirts that obviously did not reach her bellybutton. Not that she ever wore these clothes in public or where anyone would see her. She only wore them in the summer when she was alone and it was warm outside. But never if anybody was within eyesight of her. But she didn't need to tell Potter that. She leaned in very close to his face and whispered, "Just because I don't degrade myself by wearing any of this around your prying eyes doesn't mean I don't own it and it doesn't mean I don't wear it." She was breathing heavily from her rant.

            He looked up into her eyes. Her brilliant green eyes. She wasn't paying attention so he acted on impulse and kissed her hard on the mouth. He hadn't kissed her for more than a few seconds when he felt immense pain across his cheek.

            She had slapped him. She slapped him hard across the face. She got off of him, careful to step very hard on his stomach.

            He clutched his stomach and she gathered her clothes. One of the shirts was missing.

            "Evans, any chance of you wearing this on a date with me?"

            "Not on your life, Potter." She stepped on his stomach again and took all her things back upstairs, slamming the door behind her.

_What did you think?_


	2. Chapter 2: Caught

**Chapter 2: Caught**

**(also known as "The Chapter the Author Hadn't Planned On Writing")**

            Lily stretched and stared at her alarm clock. It wasn't even 5:30 and yet she was awake. She was awake and unable to fall back to peaceful slumber. She was alone in her room, everyone else gone for the holidays. She used to go home for the holidays, but once the distances between her and her sister had reached a certain tension, there was no point anymore.

            She rolled over. Maybe she could go work out in the common room for a while. Some aerobics and maybe a little kickboxing could make her feel better. She wasn't very good at it (as Tuna face constantly reminded her), but it was fun. It was a great stress reliever and it always made her feel better. She sat up and rummaged through her drawers for something to wear. She found a pair of small gray exercise shorts and a short workout bra-shirt thing. She never wore these when anyone was around; she usually worked out alone, if anyone was nearby she wore large sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt. She wasn't even sure why she had brought them with her to Hogwarts. Then again, she wasn't sure why she brought most of that stuff she'd showed James yesterday. She didn't usually wear most of that stuff, even in the summer. The fishnets had been part of an old Halloween costume of Petunia's before Tuna face had decided she hated Halloween and it was for freaks; Lily wasn't even sure how they had gotten in er trunk in the first place. Probably by accident. Either way, there wasn't enough room in the dormitory to exercise and at this time of morning the common room had to be deserted.

            Right?

            Right.

            She grabbed a towel to wipe her sweat off with and started off down the stairs. She moved furniture and cleared a big open space for her to practice in, her back to the stairs. She sat down and did some warm-up stretches. Then she got her heart rate up with some jumping-jacks, did a little muscle toning with some sit-ups and pushups. After that, it was time to move on to some real work. She started out with a series of jabs, uppercuts, and other various punches. Then she started her kicks. First a snapping front kick, then a back kick, then a roundhouse. Repeat. Then she started to mix it up. Jab right, front kick left, side kick left, cross punch right, jab right, back kick left, cross punch left, and roundhouse. Repeat. She worked through various combinations for about an hour and a half. She took a break to wipe the sweat from her face, but was back to work within minutes. She practiced nearly another hour.

            Partway through that last hour, James, woken and unable to sleep, came down the stairs. He stood on the stairs for almost half an hour watching Lily practice, fascinated. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell by the very way she held herself tat she had her full concentration going. Her full concentration was amazing and he admired her right hook (he rubbed his jaw, remembering when she had punched him not more than 3 weeks ago). And he certainly never thought he'd see her wearing short gray shorts like that and a shirt showed so much skin.

            While her intense focus made her unaware of him staring at her, she couldn't help but see him when she did a spinning kick that ended with her staring right at him.

            For probably two minutes, the only sound heard was Lily's panting as she tried to catch her breath. Her green eyes almost glowed and she asked murderously, "What are you doing here?"

            "I just came down for breakfast, I…I…"

            "You were just _spying_ on me!" she whispered, striding forward. When she was close enough, she started poking him in the chest with each word, causing him to retreat up the stairs. "_You_," poke, "_were_," poke, "_spying_," poke, "_on_," poke, "_me_!" On the final word she shoved him toward the wall of the spiral staircase. She glared at him, her breath hot and sweat still coming off her.

            James was terrified by the green-eyed, red-haired monster standing before him. She was barely inches away and if looks could kill, he'd already be long dead. He swallowed nervously and tried to avoid letting his gaze slide from her face. At first he couldn't have removed his eyes from her eyes if he wanted to; he was trapped by her gaze.

            "I am waiting for an answer," she said menacingly.

            Suddenly, he found that he wasn't nervous at all. This was Evans. He'd told the truth when he said he was coming down for breakfast and she had absolutely no right to accuse him of lying! He relaxed. "I was just coming down for breakfast," he said firmly. This was Evans. Evans was six inches shorter than him and definitely a lot lighter than him (as especially evident in her current state of dress). 

            "You're sick. You were here to spy on me. You perverted—"

            "First of all, I didn't know you were down here. Second of all, I'm hungry and you're blocking the way to my breakfast!" he barked.

            She involuntarily backed up a fraction of an inch, but that fraction was enough.

            He picked her up around her very bare middle and slung her over his shoulder as easily as if she were a rag-doll.

            She was not amused. "Put me down, you ape! Put me down now!" She started banging on his back with her fists and kicking out with her legs.

            James tried not to wince even though his back was starting to ache from her fists. He fervently hoped she wouldn't kick him anywhere…sensitive. He wondered if he was lucky she was missing so far or whether she just hadn't thought of it yet. Either way, he carried her down the stairs and back into the common room at a deliberately slow pace to try and prove that she wasn't hurting him.

            She'd given up pounding on his back, and was stretching her arms farther. _Almost there_, she thought grimly.

            At the same moment that he pitched her forward and threw her on the couch, she grabbed the waistband of whatever underwear he was wearing (she loathed the thought and wrinkled her nose in disgust as she did). She had intended simply to pull the waistband hard enough to give him a wedgie and make him let go of her, but his throwing her off his shoulder at the precise moment that she gripped, caused it to have extra force. James Potter now had a monster wedgie and was no doubt most uncomfortable.

            Unfortunately, Lily couldn't fully enjoy this. She was too busy lying on the couch, trying to catch her breath and keep the room from spinning.

            James stayed there for a minute staring at her.

            She stared back at him. Then, suddenly aware of her clothing, she grabbed the nearest pillow and covered herself up. She took a deep breath to scream him again, but he walked out at a quick pace, pulling his boxers back into their normal position as soon as he was beyond the portrait.

            Lily spent the rest of the day hiding out in the library and only went to eat at the very beginning or very end of the meals. James hid himself away in the room of requirement with Sirius; Sirius found the whole situation highly amusing and was sorry he'd missed it.

______________________________________________________________________________

**_Replies:_**

**Briana Marie—**Thanks. Yeah, that characterization for her is kind of out of the blue, but there isn't anything to suggest otherwise. The truth is, she dresses like me. I don't wear tight clothing; I tend to dress really conservatively. Honestly, my mom and I have matching skirts and hers is about 4 or 5 inches longer than mine. My friends are shocked if they ever see my knees. That's not really swearing, but yeah, I've read some stories where she is just way to wild. Thanks.

**feline-go-meow**—Thanks. Yeah, this isn't a big thing, just something when I was bored.

**PeRkieGuRL**—Thanks. This probably won't be long. It'll just get updated as ideas come to me.

**ash vault rose garden**—Thanks.

**Chica Chiflada**—Thanks.

**Lil Bazza**—Thanks.

**bulgly**—Thanks. Originally it was only going to be 1 chapter, but since so many people like it I won't delete it. This second chapter emerged from a plot bunny attack.

**Animalluvr75—**Thanks. I'll get to the other stories soon. I'm kind of stuck on what to write on some of them. Which are you reading?

**Susan D**—Thanks.

**Siriusforeva**—Thanks. This was just going to be one thing, but now it'll keep going ntil I run out of ideas.

**Prettyfoot—**Thanks.

**Frankie Beeblebrox—**Thanks. A peacock! That's a good idea. I think I've got to work it in either this one or Switched or maybe the Marauders' First Week at Hogwarts, I don't care where I put it but at some point she has to call him a peacock! *cackles* 

**Mrs.shigwa.cobain**—Thanks. I fixed the "you're" to "your".

NEXT UPDATE THIS FRIDAY OR SATURDAY.


	3. Chapter 3: Curiosity

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own it. You know the routine.**

Replies:

Je—Wow. Somebody even more random than me. Go figure.

Fredlubber—Thanks

Jadore—Thanks

Marina—Thanks. I remember.

Imababygirl101—I don't recognize the email address. Should I know you from school? Thanks. I hit a brick wall with Fortress. It might not get updated 'til Easter Break.

Dlster—Thanks.

Cinammon—Thanks

Elle30—Thanks.

Frankie Beeblebrox—It was going to be a simple one-shot but…*sigh* These things happen and they become stories.

Briana Marie—Yeah, it was going to be a 1-shot. Thanks.

Bulgly—Thanks. Not pathetic.

Siriusforeva—Thanks. Hehe, that would be cute! I'll have to think about it. Who says they'll go out? *ominous music* Maybe she'll fall in love with Remus…kidding.

PeRkieGuRL—Thanks

WARNING: This chapter gets sappy. I'm sorry. Really I am.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Chapter 3: Curiosity**

            "Just out of curiosity, Evans, why _don't_ you go out and dress up? You're seventeen and you've never had a boyfriend." He looked up at her from across the room, setting his book down in his lap. They were the only two in the common room on Christmas-Eve. Remus and Peter had gone home for the holidays. Sirius was out of the Tower putting the final touches on a prank against Severus Snape, who was also remaining at Hogwarts over the holidays.

            Lily looked up at him from the book she was reading. "Potter, is this in regards to the fight we had yesterday or the attire you found me in this morning?" she asked slowly.

            "Just a general question."

            Lily looked James over and glanced leisurely around the common room. She'd spent the day dodging him, unaware that he had spent the day dodging her impending wrath. Only coincidence or fate determined that after avoiding each other since the incident before breakfast they were destined to meet when they both came down the stairs from their dormitories at the same time to sit by the fire and do some reading. They had both sat down as far from each other as they could be without losing the fire's heat. They'd been there silently for some two hours or so. Why did he have to start a conversation? She decided she'd answer. It wasn't as though she had anything better to do. "Frankly, I can't think of any boys here that would be worth wasting my time or energy on. What's it to you?"

            He shrugged. "Just curious."

            She stared down at her book for a moment before opening it again. She read for a few minutes and found she couldn't concentrate on it. She frowned. What was bothering her? She pretended to read while looking up at James, who reading again, every few minutes. "Potter?"

            He looked up from his book. "Yeah, Evans?"

            She struggled to find the words. "You've never had a girlfriend yourself."

            "So?" he shrugged and bowed his head toward his book again.

            "Why not?"

            "Would there be any particular reason that I should have had a girlfriend?"

            "I suppose nothing really, but…" she left the sentence hanging.

            "But?" he asked, in a bored voice.

            "Some girls, other girls, not _me_, find you to be," she struggled for words again, losing the casual tone they had both maintained until then.

            "To be?" he asked smoothly.

            "Some of them, possibly a good number of them, for reasons I can't quite fathom, find you to be a rather attractive specimen."

            "And you don't agree with them?" he said simply. It was hardly a question.

            "No, I don't agree with them."

            "I see."

            "You already knew that I don't agree with them."

            "I know." He returned to his story.

            Now that the can of worms was open, Lily found it impossible to ignore. She decided to press the issue. Maybe she was looking for a fight. She was restless. "_Why_ don't you date?"

            "Do I seem that shallow that I would date girl only because she found me attractive?"

            "Sometimes. Yes, you do."

            "Well, I'm not," he said mildly, returning once more to his reading.

            This was truly aggravating. She was not _supposed _to have a civilized conversation with him! And he was not _supposed_ to be sitting quietly reading a book! He was _supposed_ to be off doing something stupid so she could have a good excuse to get in a fight and yell at him. Why was he being so _nice_? He wasn't being nice per say, but he was leaving her alone as he should. Why did this irritate her so much? Was she missing having somebody to argue with?

            Lily was so busy being furious and trying to stay calm that she didn't notice James look up from his book and sneak a look at her. _So far, so good,_ he thought. He was being civil. He was being kind and polite. He wasn't annoying her. She was wrong. They could be in each other's company without fighting. He stole another glance at her and knew she was only pretending to read. He went back to really reading his book. It was a Muggle book by a chap named Tolkien.

            Lily tried to sound casual and thought she did a pretty good job of it. "_Why_ don't you date?" she repeated.

            James closed the book and looked up at her. "Frankly, Evans, most of the girls here aren't worth my time or energy. While I may be attracted to a few of them, I only really care about one. Since the one I care about doesn't feel the same way, there's no point in me dating anyone else. It would be wrong, you know? Morally wrong for me to date someone I wasn't actually interested in."

            She blinked at him. Was this coming from Potter's mouth?

            James just turned his eyes back to his book.

            Nearly half an hour went by in silence.

            _This can't be that hard!_ Lily thought to herself. Why did she even care about who the idiot liked? They were just rivals. He was an annoying prat. "So who is it?"

            "Hmm?"

            "Who is it?"

            "Who's what?" he asked.

            "The one you care about?"

            "It doesn't matter. I've already discussed the matter with her. It's a mutual decision that she can't stand me and believes I'm unworthy of her attention. I rather agree. She's too good for me. It doesn't change how I feel but I'm no longer going to force any attention on her. If she changes her mind, she'll probably let me know. If you'll excuse me? I was at a very interesting chapter. It's called, _The Council of Elrond_. Really quite fascinating." He bent his head to the book again.

            Ten minutes went by in silence. Lily felt like screaming just to break the silence. She glared at James, not that he noticed. He just kept reading. She glared at his glasses, at his hazel eyes, at his dark and messy hair, at his cute little nose…_Stop looking at him!_ she told herself. It did no good. She was powerless to prevent her next action. She got up and stalked over to where he was. She stood there.

            He didn't move a muscle except his eye that scanned the lines of the story.

            She started to tap her foot.

            The only movement he made was to turn the page.

            She wrenched the book from his grasp and he looked up at her questioningly. "Potter."

            "Yes, Evans?"

            "Who is she?"

            "Who is who?"

            "The girl you care about."

            He leaned back slightly in the chair and looked up at her. "It doesn't matter. Does it?"

            "Of course it doesn't."

            "Then why don't you sit down and get back to your reading?"

            Lily bit her lip, trying to decide what to say. "Because, whoever she is, I want to warn her."

            "I don't really see how it's any of your business. If I might have my book back, please?"

            She glared at him and held the book limply in her hand.

            "Miss Evans? If I might have my book back?" he asked again.   

            She brought her hand forward ever so slightly and he gently took the book back. She stood there another moment before returning to her seat. It was time to think things out logically. Potter liked someone. He'd often asked her out on dates. She had always refused. It was mutually understood that she would always refuse him. Come on, Lily, this isn't that hard to work out. Potter really fancies you. No he doesn't. Yes he does. Two voices in her head argued back and forward. Every so often she looked up at Potter. He wasn't paying her the slightest bit of attention. He couldn't possibly like her. But all the hints are there, he does! No, he doesn't. It's absurd. The arguing went on for the better part of an hour inside Lily's brain.

            James just sat quietly and read his book, delighted with the fact that Lily and he were on civil terms. He hadn't really lied to her at all even throughout the whole discussion. The book was quite good.

            A third voice in Lily's head joined the other two and settled any further debate. The third voice was very sure of itself and confident. It also brought a whole new set of ideas. She stood up and warmed her hands by the fire for a moment. She stole a glance and saw that James was still reading studiously.

            Excellent. She made as if to go up to her dormitory, but instead veered directly for Potter. She wrenched the book out of his hands and dropped it. She grabbed him by the collar of his robes. "Potter," she said, looking him in the eye.

            "Yes?" he asked, trying desperately to keep calm and wondering what he'd done to make her angry this time. It was rather difficult to keep calm when Lily Evans had just stormed over and grabbed him by the collar, her face inches from his.

            "You ever been kissed?"

            He blinked, confused. He'd tried to kiss _her_ before, several times, but had never really succeeded and no one had ever successfully tried to kiss him. He only cared about Lily Evans and wouldn't let any other girl kiss him (though plenty had tried; he _was_ gorgeous). "I already told you, I've never had a girlfr—"

            It was too late.

            He was doomed.

            Utterly doomed.

            He would never finish that sentence.

            Ever.

            She yanked on his collar and closed the gap between them, her lips finding his instantly. She'd never kissed anyone before either (other than when he tried to kiss her) but that didn't seem to matter. Her lips and his met warmly. They kissed for a while, at least a minute or two, though it felt like longer. One of Lily's arms hung limply at her side and the other one still clutched his collar. James's hands, which had originally been resting on his knees, now gripped the arms of the chair.

            James broke off the kiss (not that he wasn't enjoying himself, he just wanted to find out what was going on) and stared at Lily's very red face. It was as red as her hair. He rather suspected his own face was at least a little pink. "W-wh-what's going on, Evans? What just happened?"

            "I don't know," she said breathlessly. "It _was_ me you were talking about, wasn't it? I didn't just make an idiot out of myself?"

            "It was you," he grinned. "And in answer to your earlier question, no one has ever kissed me before."

            Seeing him sitting there and grinning like an idiot, Lily moved his hand so that it hung off the side of the chair and sat on the arm of the chair. She quirked an eyebrow at him in a very James Potter-esque way.

            He blinked at her and tilted his head.

            She grinned and kissed him again for a longer time. She didn't want to think about why she was kissing him. She didn't want to think about the possibility that she liked him and he liked her. She let go of his collar and put a hand on his shoulder.

            James's hand that had been on the arm of the chair was moved hesitatingly around Lily's waist. He used his other hand to brush a few strands of hair from her forehead. He fervently hoped Lily wasn't playing some cruel joke on him.

            When they stopped kissing, she smiled at him (of course seeing her beautiful smile, James took a risky move and kissed her again). After that, they just sat there for a few minutes in silence with his arm around her and her hand on his shoulder (almost around his neck).

            "You really care about me?"

            "Of course I do, I've cared about you for a long time now, Evans."

            "If you mean that, call me Lily."

            "Lily. Lily. Lily. Lily. Lily. Lily," he murmured. "I like the sound of that."

            "So do I, P—"

            "_James_. Lily, my name is _James_."

            "James," she whispered, smiling. She leaned her head against his shoulder and shut her eyes, suddenly very drowsy.

            James shifted Lily carefully so that she would be more comfortable. She gave a light snore and he smiled down at her.

            Sirius came in about half an hour later, at 11 o'clock, very pleased with himself. "Old Snivellus is going to wake up with purple hair tomorrow!" he crowed giddily. "I even fixed it with Sasha to paint his nails gold and scarlet while he's asleep. This'll be the best Christma—"

            "Ssh!" James said softly to Sirius. "Keep it down."

            "Huh? Prongsie, what…?" He finally took notice of Lily. Lily was lying in James's arms while he sat in the chair and stared adoringly at her.        "Did you knock her out with a sleeping potion or something?" he asked finally.

            "No. She…she kissed me."

            "Never."

            "She fancies me."

            "Not in a thousand years."

            "It's true. I think."

            "Naw."

            "It is. Be quiet or you'll wake her up."

            Sirius sat down in the nearest chair. "What are you going to do with her?" he asked quietly.

            "Huh? How do you mean?"

            "Well, you've got two choices. Wake her and send her upstairs or put her on the couch over there with a blanket and leave her."

            "I can't do that. Look how peaceful she is. I can't wake her."

            "Then you've got to leave her on the couch."

            "But the couch is uncomfortable."

            "Then what do you propose to do? You can't bring her to her dorm."

            James blinked. A slow smile creeping onto his face.

            "I know that face, Prongs. What are you thinking?"

            "We could bring her upstairs and put her in Remus or Peter or Frank's bed. That way she doesn't have to spend Christmas alone tomorrow. Inviting her to spend Christmas with us will be fun. The perfect Christmas present."

            "James, you could always just invite her to come up tomorrow."

            "I know."

            "If you brought her up now, there's no telling how she'd react when she woke up."

            "I know."

            "You could get in a lot of trouble."

            "I know. But since when has that stopped either of us from doing anything before?"

            "This is different. There's no telling how she might react. She's like a ticking bomb, you'll never know when she'll explode."

            "True."

            "It could ruin things between you forever."

            "True."

            Sirius grinned, a glint in his eye. "I've got an idea!"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Yeah, I know. Beyond sappy! I'm sorry. *hides* But, this isn't the nice, neatly wrapped, happy ending. I've got way more plot. If it seems like Lily didn't actually have a reason to kiss James, you're right and that'll get resolved later too, I promise.

In the meantime, you know the routine…encourage me to update!


	4. Chapter 4: Christmas

Hey, sorry it's been so long I've been out of the house most of the week. I was originally going to make all of Christmas Day one chapter, but then I got stuck and figured I might as well give you what I've got so. Hope you like it!

Replies 

**Marauders3**—Thanks

**Creative Deficit**—Thanks, Laura. Yeah, I can see why he had to die, but I still don't like it.

**Sarah**—Thanks. Here's the update!

**DOJ**—hehe. Her reaction? Well…

**Rider-of-Rohan23**—Glad to make you smile! Yeah, I don't know, I never really liked him as a womanizer. I see him in love with Lily and unable to date anybody else. Does that sound cheesy?

**Lil Bazza**—Thanks

**DLster—**Hehe, hope this matched your expectations

**Sakura—**Thanks

**Duva**—Thanks. I've got 24 other stories. :-)

**Jewel Valentine**—So do I. I love LJ

**Frankie Beeblebrox—**Thanks. Hehe, I can't help but insert Tolkien wherever I can.

**Briana Marie—**Thanks. As far as why Lily never dated, I kind of see her stuck up in the sense that none of the guys at the school are really good enough for her. They're all too immature. As for James, I've just got it stuck in my brain that he's had a crush on her since they met and she's hated him since they met. I've got a story in the works about their first week at Hogwarts. I just want to finish up another story or two before I post it and get clamors for updates. If you want I'll email it though. It might explain some of the weirdness in my LJ ideas.

**Susan D**—Thanks

**Mrs.shigwa.cobain—**Thanks. I'll go back and fix those when I get a chance.

**Feline-go-meow**—Thanks

**PeRkieGuRL**—Thanks!

**HyperOnCookies**—Thanks. I don't think there will be quite that many chapters for this one, though I've got some other LJ stories already done and some more in progress.

Prettyfoot—Thanks.

Siriusforeva—Thanks

Saxistwriterchick—hehe, you'll just have to read and find out!

Bulgly—Sirius totally comes in this chapter. Yeah, I know Lily was weird but all shall be explained eventually (but not in this chapter). I won't put any spoilers for what's going on here, but if you want to know why she's acting like she is, let me know and I'll email you what I've got planned.

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**Chapter 4:** **Christmas Morning**

            Lily opened her eyes blearily and blinked. She tried to remember what had happened last night. She'd been in the common room with James and…she'd kissed him. More than once. The pieces slowly came together and she wished she were more of a morning person. Finally she drew the correct conclusions. They'd been in the common room and kissed. They both fancied each other. After kissing him, she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for just a moment and must have fallen asleep. Where was she now?

            She sat up and looked around. There was a canopy or tent over her head and she was in a lovely, warm sleeping bag. The canopy covered several chairs, a table with silver platters on it, a couch, a fireplace, and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with presents under it!

            Then she saw them. Sirius Black and James Potter. They were curled up in sleeping bags on the floor nearby at her feet. She realized their sleeping bags were directly on the floor, but underneath her sleeping bag she was lying on at least to layers of soft pillows to keep her off of the cold, hard floor. Had they done all this for her? They must have.

            She suddenly felt a rush of gratitude and friendly feelings toward the two dark-haired boys. She quietly climbed out of her sleeping bag and tiptoed to the two boys. She knelt down and kissed Sirius and James each on the cheek.

            James's hand slowly moved toward his cheek and Sirius's eyelids fluttered.

            "Happy Christmas," she murmured. She went back to her sleeping bag and curled up and fell asleep again, waiting for them to wake up.

            Sirius nudged James in the ribs half an hour later, "Should we wake her?"

            James looked at Lily's face with a few wisps of red hair falling angelically on her forehead. "Yeah. Probably should."

            "Do you want to wake her, or should I?"

            "You get breakfast ready. I'll wake her."

            James went over and knelt by Lily's side, thinking of all the old fairytales in which a prince wakes a princess under a spell with a kiss. "My princess," he said softly. He kissed her and she soon awoke, kissing him back. When she was awake, James slowly broke off the kiss and sat back, waiting for her reaction.

            "Happy Christmas, Lily," he said, a little shyly.

            "Happy Christmas, James. Happy Christmas to you too, Bl—Sirius," turning, to Sirius.

            "How'd you know I was here?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

            "I woke up awhile ago, but I fell back asleep again," she admitted.

            "Darn. We were going to surprise you by having you wake up to us singing Christmas carols."

            "Thank you," she said, looking at them both.

            "It was nothing," James said, blushing.

            "Where are we?" she asked curiously.

            "Just in the common room. We couldn't return to you to your dorm and we didn't think you'd appreciated being taken to ours."

            "And we didn't want to leave you here by yourself."

            "So we set this up around you."

            "It was very sweet of you," she said.

            "We've got breakfast waiting," Sirius said. He pulled out a chair for her with a flourish and she sat down at the table with James and Sirius on either side of her. There was a splendid array of goodies set out for them to eat (omelets, bacon, juice, muffins, and all sorts of good stuff).

            They ate until they were stuffed. Then it was time to open presents.

            They each had a stack of presents (Sirius's smaller than Lily and James due to his being disowned by most of his family). He did receive presents from his great-uncle, his cousin Andromeda, Peter, Remus, the Quiditch team, and James. Lily got presents from her family (even Tuna-face sent something), some of the younger students she tutored, and Alice. She also got something from James. James had lots of presents and care-packages from home (including a handmade sweater), presents from Sirius, Remus and Peter, presents from the Quiditch team, and from a few of his "secret" admirers.

            "James," she breathed, "it's beautiful." He'd given her a locket on a thin golden chain. The locket opened to reveal a tiny model of a dancing fairy, not like a _real_ fairy, but like the beautiful fairy from a Muggle story.

            He shrugged blushing. "It's nothing."

            She kissed him on the cheek. "I love it."

            He looked pleased.

            "Great, I'm gonna be stuck here alone with the lovebirds," muttered Sirius.

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Oooh, so what do you think? Was this kind of lame? Or sugar-coated goodness? Or what? Again, sorry for the delay in update.


	5. Chapter 5: Mistletoe

**Disclaimer:** You know I don't own this.

**Replies:**

**Feline-go-meow—**Thanks

**Angel Enchantress**—Thanks.

**Dangerkitteh13**—I believe I already replied to you in an email. I just want to reiterate that while this is not my best work, it's not the worst thing I've ever read and if you don't like it why did you waste your time 1) reading the whole thing and 2) writing such a long and poorly written review?

**Frankie Beeblebrox—**Thanks. I suppose they were romantic, weren't they? My boyfriend is very romantic. I really should do something nice for him…

**JewelValentine**—Thanks. : - )

**Harryandginnyforever**—Thanks

**Bulgly—**Thanks. Yeah, I know it was kind of short. I'm not sure just why I made him shy in this chapter. I just kind of think it'd be a little intimidating for your long time to crush to suddenly start acting like Lily was. 

**Siriusforeva**—Thanks. I was afraid it'd be overly lame.

**Ash vault rose garden**—Thanks. Sirius is fun to write!

**The Marauders3**—Thanks

**Melissa Black13—**Thanks

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**Rider-of-Rohan23**—Yeah, I'm kind of one of those people who gets addicted to fluffy ficlets that end in a single kiss and are sugary enough to make cotton candy with. I'll try and get over and read that one soon. It sounds funny!

**Manny2003—**Thanks!

**GryffindorGoddess28—**Thanks. Sounds like I got just the right balance then.

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**Tigerlily98**—Thanks. I know the chapters are kind of short (sorry). Hope this update was soon enough.

**Saxistwriterchick**—Thanks. He's not really supposed to be jealous, at least not much.

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**Hi Im Crazy**—Thanks!

**DOJ**—Thanks. I like sweet guys so that kind of influenced how I wrote Sirius and James.

**Briana Marie**—Thanks. I hate overdone fluff, so I'm glad you think this isn't too overdone. I looked at your summary. Your story sounds awesome. I'll read it over Easter break. I normally try to review at least once for everybody who reviews for me but the last couple months…I've just had too many stories going at once.  The swear words are okay and I'm glad there's not sex in it. One story I read I immediately threw away because Sirius and James shagged random girls in the room of requirement. Okay, cool. The next chapter of Switched has some good background information on Frank (well, at least for that story anyway).

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**Chapter 5: Mistletoe**

            Lily and James had a great time during the remaining days of Christmas vacation. They walked the grounds holding hands and kissing. They sat next to each other on the couch in the common room just listening to music. All the happy togetherness of it put Sirius in a bit of a snit since he therefore was often stuck alone.

            They didn't talk much. Lily was carefully avoiding the question James desperately wanted to ask. He wanted to know what had caused her sudden change in feelings toward him. Whatever had changed her mind, for the present, their arrangement worked. The few people who had stayed at Hogwarts this year (less of them stayed than usual) had now grown accustomed to seeing the long time rivals getting along.

            Finally, it was the night before term started and everyone was back at school. Not all the Christmas decorations had yet come down so no one really felt as though term should be starting the next day.

            Lily found Alice as soon as she had returned. "I missed you."

            "Missed you too. I'm sorry you were stuck in this drafty old castle. If you told me sooner, I could have arranged for you to come home with me."

            "It's okay. What'd you do?"

            "Mostly stayed at the house. Went to a Muggle cinema. That was pretty neat."

            "Good. What did you see?"

            Alice described the movie as they sat on the couch and caught up. Lily said nothing about her own Christmas break, other than that she just wandered around Hogwarts.

            "So that was it? Nothing interesting? I'm sorry."

            "It's fine. We've got class tomorrow though. So we'd better get going."

            Alice nodded.

            They started for the dorm, Lily, a few steps behind Alice, unwittingly walked under some mistletoe.

            "I'm telling you, it's true!" James insisted.

            Peter said, "Nah."

            Remus added, "No way."

            "But it is," James repeated for the tenth time.

            Remus looked his friend in the eye. "James, not in a hundred years would Lily ever kiss you of her own freewill."

            "But she did!"

            "Sirius?" asked Remus.

            "He's telling the truth, mate. Lily has finally given in admitted her true feelings for him," Sirius said solemnly.

            "Really? What did she say?"

            "Well, nothing actually. She mostly just kisses me."

            "Huh? Lily never seemed like the sort that would ever kiss on a first date."

            "I don't think we've actually been on a date."

            "Wait, so you're not dating, she hasn't said she liked you, she just snogs you?" asked Remus, confused.

            "Yeah. I don't understand it either," admitted James.

            "When you don't understand something, you've got to ask about it. Go ask her."

            "I don't want to ruin things."

            "If you want a relationship with this girl you've got to talk to her. You told us you love her. Go. Now!" They pushed him out the door and down the steps. They trailed a few feet behind him.

            James saw Lily following Alice up to the girl's dorm and stopped her a few feet from the stairs. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Lily, I—"

            Red and green lights started bouncing off the walls and a shrill voice sang, "I see you there/Now play fair/It's time to kiss/For Christmas bliss!" It was a badly rhymed little thing, but it got the attention of all those in the common room and it continued to sing. "A peck on the cheek or a full lip-lock/If you don't kiss, you don't walk!"

            It was just their luck that they walked under magical mistletoe. This variety of charmed mistletoe, if two members of the opposite sex met under it, would sing in a loud and shrill voice until the two people standing under it kissed. Part of the charm prevented either of them from walking away before kissing.

            Lily had not wanted her relationship with James to be public knowledge. There were still too many things she had to figure out first.

            James thought this was certainly a stroke of luck. Now his friends would have to believe him and once their relationship was general knowledge he could ask her what he wanted to ask. He smiled at her, expecting a full on the mouth kiss, or at least a friendly kiss.

            Alice looked at Lily with sympathy. More Lily! She was going to have to kiss James.

            Lily looked at James with vile contempt. Disgust and revulsion coming off her in waves, she leaned in and pecked James on the cheek before walking away as quickly as she could and rubbing her hand across her mouth.

            Remus patted James on the back and rolled his eyes at him. "You and her having been dating all Christmas. Sure. We've got class in the morning, best get some rest."

            The other boys reluctantly followed Remus up the stairs, but James went gloomily to the kitchen and drowned his sorrows in bowl after bowl of vanilla ice cream. 

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Any good? This is where I was plotting the story to go for the last couple of chapters now…


	6. Chapter 6: Trial

**Disclaimer:** Are you daft? I already told you I-DON'T-OWN-THIS.

**Author's Note:** Lily did that to James because she was scared and confused. She was acting weird over Christmas break by being with James, but now that term is back in session, there's people there and they've got expectations she's got to live up to. Those expectations don't include snogging James Potter in the common room. She's totally lost right now and has to sort out her feelings for James. Sorry it's been forever since the update. Working on 5 or 6 stories here, 2 stories on FictionAlley, and several stories at the AOL Harry Potter Fan Fiction board. Also, warning you, I have no idea where this chapter came from. It's really random.

**Replies:**

**Ron-lover-for-life—**Thanks. Sorry it's been so long since an update. I've got almost a dozen stories in the works right now.

**Eunice—**Thanks. Yeah, not that great a plot to this (originally there was no plot and it was supposed to end after the first chapter). Yeah, Lily was funky in this but I think she becomes more Lily in the next few chapters.

**Flying fuzzy logic**—The suspense was Lily just completely trashing James in the last chapter. Big unexpected plot twist. Yeah, I know, not great. I don't like this story even. I like my other ones better.

**Harryandginnyforever—**Thanks. I've got to go back and fix that paragraph mistake.

**Clyana**—Thanks. Yeah, Lily didn't have much time to think.

**Mad_bout_u**—Thanks. I'm not so sure she wasn't serious…

**Allie**—Thanks

**Chica Chifalda**—Thanks. Yeah, sorry I did that to James. I hope my Author's Note at the top explained why Lily did that. Hehe, yeah, Remus was kind of mean. Normally I'd make Sirius mean, but Sirius already knew the truth.

**Rider-of-Rohan23**—Thanks. Haven't read it yet. Been super busy and about to get busier.

**Susan D**—Thanks

**Briana Marie**—Thanks. Yeah, I'm still working on figuring out why Lily was all kissy. I think she likes James, but has to sort her feelings out about him. I bet I'll love your story, from all you're reviews I notice you pick details and are really good and figuring things out.

**Feline-go-meow**—Thanks. Yes, yes, everyone feel sorry for James. Haha, I love to torture him. It's just so much fun. I'm not sure whether the torture I'm devising for him in "Switched" or his public humiliation last chapter is worse.

**Moonlight on the Water**—Thanks. James torture is fun.

**The Marauders3**—hehe. I know, I torture him a lot, but it's fun!

**J.E.A.R.K.Potter**—Thanks

**Squidluvr4eva**—Yeah, I was going for more realistic. I've kinda had the plan for her to do that to him in for a while. Maybe she hates him and was just setting him up for this fall? Or maybe I'm lying. Hehe, sorry, going all freaky mad scientist-y here. Yes, James needs a hug. Maybe I'll put one in the next chapter.

**Unstable Element**—Thanks

**Swishy Willow Wand**—Thanks. Yep, I'm evil, but it's fun.

**Frankie Beeblebrox**—Thanks. Yeah, had this wonderful little display of public humiliation planned for James since the first kiss. Now be prepared for…dun, dun, dun! The confusion of Lily. Sorry, really hyper.

**DOJ**—Yes. I know, they're rarely that sweet. My BF is usually that sweet though. And I'm usually almost as mean as Lily.

**Lil Bazza**—I think it'll get better eventually.

**FlamezFlyer**—Thanks. I got the part about not being able to leave from a 1-shot I read (can't remember what it is) about Snape and Hermione (I hate that ship!) under the mistletoe and it was charmed so they couldn't leave 'til they kissed. Anyway, I made up the singing part, but that's kind of how like everybody shouts whenever somebody is under the mistletoe so that everybody sees them.

**PeRkieGuRL**—Thanks. Lily is so cruel, isn't she? Sorry, it's fun to write. Anyway, I think this chapter should be a little enlightening for all the characters.

**Rowan the Green Eyed Cat—**Hehe. Yeah, "Poor Lily" not "More Lily".

**Siriusforeva**—Thanks. Yes, poor James. It probably would be kinder if I just let her cut his throat now, wouldn't it? Save him future heartache?

Wow! **25** reviews!  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter 6: Trial**

            "Lily, what was all that about this evening?"

            "I don't know. I don't know," she moaned. She pondered her dilemma. Things were not good. Things were definitely not good.

            "Lily Evans, I have my sources. Were you, or were you not, on more than one occasion this Christmas break caught snogging James Potter?"

            "I—"

            "How do you plead?" Angry eyes flashed at her.

            "Guilty." She looked at the court assembled around her. Alice, Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius were around. Everyone except James was in his or her pajamas.

            Lily wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up down here. All she knew was that Alice had shaken her awake and made her come downstairs to the common room where she was now. Why did she have the funny feeling she was on trial here? She looked around. Yes. Certainly a trial. There was Judge Remus sitting in the squashiest armchair with the fire behind him to make him look particularly threatening. Sirius was James's witness and apparently his lawyer. Alice was Lily's lawyer. Lily was apparently the defendant. Peter appeared to be both the jury and the security guard.

            "Do I get to ask what crime I'm on trial for?" Lily whispered to Alice.

            "Other than snogging James Potter all Christmas break?" whispered Alice.

            "I thought you were on my side," Lily said.

            "The Defendant would like to know what charges are being held against her," Alice said to Remus.

            "The charges, pressed by Mister Potter are being deceptive, misleading him, misconduct, and public humiliation," Remus said, consulting a parchment Sirius handed him. "Do you deny these charges?"

            "Well…" Lily started.

            "Do you deny these charges?" he repeated.

            Lily clamped her mouth shut. She couldn't deny them per say, but she hadn't meant to hurt him. "I didn't mean to," she said in a very small voice.

            "The Prosecution would like to call a witness," Sirius said.

            "Who would they like to call?" asked Remus.

            "Me," Sirius said.

            "The Prosecution calls Sirius Eugene Black to the stand," James said.

            "What'd you say my middle name for?" Sirius hissed at James.

            James shrugged.

            "Who'll be doing the questioning?" asked Remus.

            "I'll be questioning myself. Sirius, what have you witnessed between Miss Evans and Mister Potter? In the past 7 years, I've witnessed many arguments. In the past week, I've witnessed them kiss many times, sometimes for an extended number of minutes."

            "I think I should ask the questions," Remus said.

            "Do I get to ask anything?"

            "No, Pete. I'm the Judge. Remember?"

            "Oh. Right."

            "So, who kissed who first?"

            "I wasn't there at the time, but I'm given to understand that Miss Evans kissed Mister Potter."

            "Objection!" shouted Alice, standing.

            "You can't object!" Sirius said sourly.

            "Why not?" huffed Alice.

            "Because he's telling the truth," whispered Lily.

            "Er, objection over-ruled. That's enough from you, Mr. Black. Would the Defense care to call a witness?"

            "Yes. The Defense calls Miss Lily Evans," Alice said.

            Lily got up and stood where Sirius had been standing next to Remus's chair. She saw Sirius sitting in his seat, looking a little miffed about being told to sit down. Peter looked mildly interested in what was going on. Alice had a grim set to her face. Remus was trying to look neutral, but Lily saw a look pass between him and Sirius that clearly said "now we'll see what this is all about". Lily didn't look at James. She couldn't. She'd publicly humiliated him tonight. Yes she'd been deceptive, and she'd misled him. She hadn't meant to. She'd acted without thinking things through first. She wasn't so sure about the misconduct charge though. She stole a glance at James.

            James sat there, dejected. His whole body seemed limp, as though he had no energy left to care. He looked up and met Lily's eyes for a brief instant. Blue meeting green.

            Lily held her breath for that instant. She didn't say anything.

            James didn't look away.

            Lily couldn't keep looking at him. Her guilt was just too overwhelming. Almost as overwhelming as her confusion. She didn't know why she'd kissed James on Christmas Eve. Really, she wasn't sure. She'd had a growing suspicion all year (and since the end of 6th year actually) that she was beginning to fancy him. But at that point it was just a suspicion. She still loathed him with every fiber of her being. The only problem was, he was smart. He had good brains. He didn't apply them in the right places, but they were there all the same. He was kind too, when he wanted to be. She'd seen him break up a fight between two of the second year boys, patch them both up, and give them candy. There was one first year girl, not even a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, who was a lot smaller than the others and she got teased frequently. James always put a stop to it. After about two or three weeks he put the word out that anyone who teased, made fun of, or otherwise harassed Sarah would have to answer to him and when James Potter was done with him or her they would be in a lot of pain and not even recognizable to their own mother. Lily was fairly sure at least once James had offered to help Severus with his Transfiguration homework. Of course, he'd called him Snivellus at first out of old habit, but the offer sounded sincere enough. Then again, they still fought. Hadn't it just been last month that they got into that huge argument about her wardrobe choices and he'd said something that amounted to him being a complete git? She couldn't remember exactly what, but she'd been furious and stepped on his stomach. Well, they always said there was a thin line between love and hate. Apparently, it was a very thin line indeed.

            James continued to stare at her. She could feel his eyes on her while she looked at anyone but him.

            Alice said, "Lily, have you or have you not been carrying on a relationship with James Potter over the past week and half?"

            "Define relationship."

            "Lily," Remus said in a threatening voice.

            "J—Potter and I have been spending time together."

            "What did you do while you 'spent time together'?"

            "We did some walking. We ate. We laughed. There was some kissing involved."

            Remus raised an eyebrow. James hadn't been lying. Lily would have mentioned talking if there'd been much of it.

            "What prompted these actions?" asked Alice.

            Lily didn't know how to answer. What was she supposed to say? That the castle was lonely? That for the first time she was sick of being on the outside, alone with her books? That she changed her mind and didn't hate James Potter anymore? That she found him tolerable? That she found his bigheadedness much diminished? That she thought he was funny? That she thought he was cute? Gorgeous? Was there even a word to describe him? She wouldn't say it. She couldn't. She'd be the laughing stock of the school! After all the time she spent denouncing James and saying what an arrogant prick he was, there'd be no living at the school if she admitted to liking him. Head Boy or not, he was first and foremost a troublemaker. Not only was he _a_ troublemaker, he was _the_ troublemaker. As Head Girl she had certain duties and obligations to fulfill. Those duties did not include snogging James Potter senseless. There were rules and regulations to uphold. A certain status quo that had to be maintained. She realized that quite some time had passed since Alice asked her question. Apparently she didn't need to say anything. The look on her face had said plenty.

            She was guilty of all charges. She hadn't meant to hurt him. That was the last thing she wanted to do. It was just too late. She'd hurt him and she'd hurt him bad. There was no going back. She took one more glance at him and looked away.

            James saw the look on her face. She was in pain. Nearly as much as he was. But now, it was as though her head was clear and he could see all the gears in her brain working. He was fairly sure he knew what was going on in her brain.

            Remus exchanged glances with Alice, Sirius, and Peter. What was going on? He was beginning to understand though. Of course Lily had snubbed him tonight. She was the Head Girl. She wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her reputation. He understood. He started being a little more behind the scenes when it came to pranks. He was a Prefect and things were expected of you when you got put in that sort of position.

            Alice realized with a pang why Lily didn't really kiss James under mistletoe. She hadn't been planning on telling her about her and James. For whatever reason, she'd been planning on keeping it secret. Lily was always one to have secrets. She wasn't a very sharing person when it came to that sort of thing. She'd only really even started opening up to Alice in fourth year. Lily had always been so alone. Was she ashamed that she wanted somebody to be with?

            Peter chewed his lip, wondering how much longer this would be. James should either admit he was lying about Lily and him or Lily should admit that she was going out with James. It was as simple as that. He cursed Sirius's stupid idea of coming down here in the first place. Maybe he should have made friends with Frank Longbottom. Frank was never down in the common room at all hours of the night questioning people like this.

            Sirius studied Lily's face. Lily was caught between a dragon and something vicious, that's for sure. He'd seen this coming. He'd even mentioned it to James last night. He'd asked, "What's going to happened when term starts? Is everything going to be the same?" James had thought things would be fine. Sirius knew otherwise. Lily's actions tonight confirmed it. Sirius really didn't want to see his friend get hurt. James was like a brother to him and he'd been mooning over Lily for as long as he could remember. He stole a glance at James and saw a grimness there that hadn't been there a moment ago.

            James took a deep breath and stood up. He walked slowly and deliberately over to Lily. "Lily Evans, I'm going to give this one last try. If you tell me honestly that you don't feel anything, I'll never bother you again. I'll even resign as Head Boy and let Dumbledore give the job to Frank or Remus or whomever he wants. Just, give me one more chance." During his speech, he'd taken hold of her upper arms. She didn't even have time to react. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she opened her mouth to say something, anything, and couldn't. James Potter had leaned his head down to hers and was kissing her most insistently. For a full minute he kissed her while their closest friends stood around them and each silently tried to guess Lily's reaction.

            Lily was caught up in the kiss and paid no mind to the four people standing in the room with them. She was disappointed when he abruptly broke off the kiss after a minute. He look down into her eyes, but with his hands firmly on her arms he kept her from running away or leaning in to kiss him again. She had to answer.

            "Well?" he asked nervously.

            "I…" But she didn't know what to say. She had so much spinning around her head and so many conflicting feelings. She'd managed to ignore those feelings over the winter holidays, but the holidays were over now and she had to go back to reality. Maybe find a new reality. Would James Potter be part of it? At all the confusion, her knees gave way and she fell to the floor.

            James caught her.

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I almost didn't add those last three words, but I decided that would be too much of a cliffie because then you wouldn't know if she hit her head or something.

Sorry this was weird. Yeah, I know I made it kinda sound like a U.S. court TV show but I was stuck and this whole chapter grew out the idea that Alice was asking Lily questions and Lily felt like she was on trial. Forgive me and review!


	7. Chapter 7: The Talk

**Disclaimer:** Don't own this.

**Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter is so short. The next update will be pretty soon, I promise.

**Reply:**

**Swishy Willow Wand**—Hope this was soon enough. I'm working on way too many stories right now.

**HYPERdingdong39**—Thanks. Hope this was soon enough.

**Miss Evans**—Thanks. I love making people laugh.

**Susan D**—Thanks

**Song*breeze**—Thanks. I was a little worried people wouldn't like the trial.

**Tigerlily98**—Thanks, Tiger.

**L**—Thanks. Yeah, I kinda worried about them kissing too much for people who haven't dated before (which is why I just wrote a totally awkward Ron/Hermione first kiss story) but I guess that's too late to fix now.

**DOJ**—Thanks. Yeah, I'm lucky to have him. I just feel bad because I don't treat him very well. I'm always making snarky comments to him and teasing him. Hmm…I should be nicer.

**Marauders3—**Thanks. Hehe, ack! No more Sirius puns. Hehe, I like him but they get on some people's nerves. My cousin's middle name is Leigh I think. Life of the Ring was cool so far.

**Kiwibob—**Thanks

**FlamezFlyer—**Thanks. Yeah, Snape/Hermione is really creepy. The summaries alone are enough to turn my hair gray.  And besides that, they're usually R. That's a scary thought. I don't read R.

**Briana Marie**—I swear I'll get around to reading it soon. I've got my AP Euro test on Friday, my first AP exam ever so I'm seriously freaked out and studying like crazy. Thanks. Yeah, Sirius's idea. Isn't he so mean to her? But loyal to James. I'll give him that much. Nope, probably more like 4 or 5 chapters left I think. Not quite winding down yet. I'll think about it. I think it would be cute to put her in one of those shirts around James sometime.

**Feline-go-meow**—Thanks. I'll get to Switched soon. I have like 4 paragraphs written so far only. 4 short paragraphs. Your story was good, not lame.

**GryffindorGoddess28**—Glad you liked it. It'll happen, eventually. And then the fic will be over. But it's not happening yet. She must suffer first to repent for all the heartache she is causing poor Jamesie!

**Bella**—Glad you like it. The relationship will develop later, right now, it's kind of dead I guess.

**Squidluvr4eva**—Thanks. Yes, I feel bad for Lily…but I know what's coming. She deserves to be pitied after the next chapter…

**J.E.A.R.K.Potter**—Thanks

**Hi Im Crazy**—Thanks.

**Gryffspopgurl**—Thanks. It'll get finished. Don't worry, I'm just working on a lot of other stories I'm working on too.

**Mrs.shigwa.cobain**—Thanks. I don't think it ever said what color eyes he has. Some people write it as blue, some brown, some hazel. I don't think the book says which it really is. I'll check when I find it.

**Frankie Beeblebrox—**Poor James! Haha, next it's going to be Poor Lily. Thanks. Yeah, I don't know why she faints so often. Good scene transition? Hehe. Talk to you later.

**Toria**—Thanks.

**~*~rOk+stA~*~—**Thanks. 

**Bulgly**—Thanks. Eventually, they will end up together. I don't know if I see jealously in their future. There might be. I've got an idea floating around in the empty space of my brain.

**Lil Bazza—**Thanks. :-) Sounds like a fun class.

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**Chapter 7: The Talk**

            "Lily, are you alright?" James asked, peering anxiously over her.

            She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Where am I?" she asked.

            "Relax. You're on the couch in the common room. You're in good hands," James said. He was sitting on the edge of the couch next to her.

            Lily propped herself up on her elbows.

            "You going to answer the question?" prodded Sirius, standing over her from the back of the couch..

            "I need some time," Lily said after a moment.

            "Everybody go back to bed," Sirius said, an almost military air to his voice.

            "What?" asked Peter.

            "You heard me, everyone go to bed _now_. Get out of here."

            "Why?"

            "This trial is over. We resume tomorrow at midnight," Sirius said.

            "But—" started Lily.

            "Again?" asked Peter.

            Sirius herded Remus, Peter, and James up the stairs and practically pushed Alice up the girl's stairs. When Lily tried to go up he caught her by the wrist. "We need to talk," he said, staring into her eyes.

             She managed to pull her wrist free and start up the stairs. Unfortunately she was only about 6 steps up when he put his foot on the bottom stair, and she slid down. He caught her and pulled her with one hand firm clamped on her wrist and the other around her waist. He pretty much dragged her over to the couch and said again insistently, "We need to talk."

            She shifted uncomfortably. "About what?" She tried to inch away, but he still had a firm grip on her wrist.

            Sirius shook his head, an expression of loathing on his face that was usually reserved for Slytherins. "I knew you were going to do this to him. I even warned him. But I still can't believe it. How could you hurt him like this, Lily? What made you think you had any _right_ to hurt him like this? He cares about you and you're playing hackey-sack with his heart. I didn't think you were that cruel. You've got no right to lead him on like this and then make him fall flat on his face. I would have expected better from you. You're a Gryffindor. You're supposed to be brave and noble. If you were brave, you would have had the guts not to hide your relationship with James. Where should you really belong? Not Hufflepuff. No, you betrayed James tonight. Took his heart in your fist and crushed it like a grape. Maybe Ravenclaw? No, a Ravenclaw would have been smart enough to know that this would hurt him. Or maybe you _did_ know what you were doing. Maybe, at heart, you're just a malicious _Slytherin_. I would have thought better of you, Lily Evans. I'm James's best friend, so this is a warning. You usually seem like a good person, so I hope you'll listen to it. James is my best friend and anybody who so much as thinks of hurting him, especially like you did tonight, has to answer directly to me. I'm not sure how familiar you are with my work, but I can work some major havoc here and make your life a living nightmare. And that's just what I can do on my own. James has other friends and so do I, if James is being mistreated, none of us are going to stand for it. You hear me?"

            "Sirius, I don't—" she started.

            "You've been warned, Evans," he said coldly. "Stay away from him until you make up your mind. Goodnight." He stalked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

            Lily was left dumbfounded for a minute. Sirius Black hated her. How was that possible? Jovial, light-hearted Black hated her. He never really tended to hate anyone but Slytherins. He had called her a Slytherin. And he threatened her! She wondered if she should report him to McGonagall; he could do serious damage. No, she deserved whatever he did. She had hurt James. There was a time a long time ago (or maybe not so long ago) that she thought he had no feelings. If he turned her hair green and tattooed TRAITOR on her forehead, she would have thoroughly deserved it. But it wouldn't mean she would like it or wouldn't try to stop it. The world wasn't a fair place and a the moment, she reveled in the unfairness. She probably deserved some terrible things right now (even if her intentions hadn't been bad), but it didn't mean she would have to put up with them.

            She was tired and knew that they had classes the next day, but she didn't want to have to deal with Alice now, so she waited nearly an hour until she was sure that Alice would be asleep before going upstairs to bed. Then, she cried silently into her pillow and she wasn't sure just why. All she knew was that somewhere, mistakes had been made.

            Lily finally passed out, exhausted.

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

What did you think? Like I said, sorry it's short, but the next chapter is going to be really good I think. Just to forewarn you, things will not be getting better for Lily in a hurry. So with that evil note, I just want to remind you to rev—Oh, why am I even bothering? You'll do it anyway. Hehe. Sorry, really hyper right now. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8: Ignored

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this. You know that. I know that. My stuffed bear knows that.

**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry. Did I mention I'm sorry? I just was completely unable to write on this story. But I think it's getting I'm thankful for all your reviews! They make me smile. I'm so sorry it's been so long. Enjoy the chapter. It's longer than the last one. Like twice as long. I think.

**Replies—**

Gwendolyn James—Thanks. You're in luck, I'm finally updating. Hehe.

Ron-lover-for-life—Thanks. Eventually she will, I can't promise how long it'll be before she cracks though.

Siriusforeva—Yeah, I feel bad for them too. Trust me, I think you're about to feel even worse for Lily after this chapter.

Bulgly—Thanks. I really liked that chapter too. I felt that I got to show the side of Sirius people don't tend to see.

Susan D—Thanks! That's exactly what I was going for.

Squidluvr4eva—hehe, oh yes she should.

Leha—Thanks

Faerie Lover—That was Sirius's honest and (please, please forgive the pun) serious side. I see him as totally loyal to James and having that kind of reaction if somebody was hurting James like Lily is now. Besides, in Order of the Phoenix, remember how moody Sirius got? I can see him really getting angry like this. Aw, thanks for saying I'm a great author. blush I'm not really, this was supposed to end like 6 chapters ago. Not a sob story, just finally introducing some plot. Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've only got a few lines of the next chapter done. I had my big AP exam on Friday and I was studying all week and I had to work on a huge Latin project.

Frankie Beeblebrox—Thanks. I think I'd go for "terrified" rather than interesting when it comes to Sirius Black threatening me. Hehe.

BrokenSkye—This chapter is longer. This is mainly Lily, but I'll try and bring some more James in. I've got a lot of James in one of my other stories, so this is kind of a lot of Lily.

Aihjah—Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I try to keep everybody as canon as I can.

Gryffspopgurl—Thanks. Don't worry, this is almost twice as long I think.

Maria—Glad you liked the court theme. I was nervous about it.

Feline-go-meow—Thanks. I'll try and get over to read the stories soon. I'm way behind on stories I promised to read and I really want to read them. I'll try and get to them soon. Not much school left.

Briana Marie—That chapter was one of my favorites to write. Yeah, I felt bad about torturing her in this story…I always have so much fun torturing James. I decided it was his turn not to be tortured, though he is hurting on the inside. Hope you like this chapter.

SnufflestheInsane—Thanks. Yeah, the first few chapters are pointless and dumb, and then a plot appears out of nowhere. Hehe. Sure you can borrow the court idea. I love when somebody likes my ideas enough to ask if they can borrow them.

Ashley48506—Thanks.

GryffindorGoddess28—Those are good ideas, but I already had this chapter kinda planned, but some of them might work later in the story. Hope you like this!

Swishy Willow Wand—Hope this was soon enough.

J.E.A.R.K.Potter—Thanks. Yeah, it made me sad a little too when I was writing it.

Clyana—I hope your exam went okay. I don't think Sirius was trying to be mean just to be mean, he was trying to stand up for James because James is his best friend.

Tigerlily98—Thanks. Hope you like this.

Horseluver—Thanks

Harryandginnyforever—Thanks.

FlamezFlyer—Thanks. The trial isn't in this chapter but it's coming. I really liked writing the speech for Sirius. I think it was really him. You know how he gets all moody during Order of the Phoenix sometimes?

rOkstA—hehe. It might take her a while to come to her senses, but she'll come around eventually.

Lil Bazza—Thanks. I see Sirius as more moody than angry. Just kinda sulky, you know? Thanks, it will…eventually. Time to cue evil suspense music. Hehe.

Hi Im Crazy—Thanks. This chapter is like twice as long.

DOJ—Thanks. Glad you liked it!

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**Chapter 8: Ignored**

When Lily woke up, no one was in her dormitory. She figured she must have overslept because she'd been up so late, but that still didn't account for this. Her alarm should have gone off. Someone would have woken her. Now she only had about 15 minutes to get ready, eat, and get to class.

She decided that she had no choice but to forgo this morning shower. She looked through her trunk and couldn't find her robes, eventually she found them under her bed. After that, it was her socks. She could not find two matching socks anywhere. In the end she was so frustrated that she wore one red sock and one green sock. She gathered her books, which she hadn't gotten a chance to put together the night before as she usually did, and left the tower at a dead run.

_Why didn't they wake me? _she thought again, as she ran breathlessly.

She skidded to a stop in the Great Hall and took a seat at the end of the table and started chewing on a piece of toast.

She hardly had a moment to eat before it was time for class to start and she had to leave. She was still chewing on toast as she hurried to class.

Her bag ripped when she was still two hallways away and she was five minutes late after having to gather all her books.

Fortunately she had charms and she was Flitwick's favorite student. He didn't punish her.

On the other hand, two Ravenclaw girls shot her death glares as she sat down and she could have sworn one of them tried to trip her when she went up to Flitwick's desk later to ask a question.

When she went out in the hallway to go to her next class no one spoke to her. She tried to say something to a Hufflepuff friend of hers, but apparently the girl didn't hear her.

In Transfiguration, someone pulled Lily's chair out from under her when she was about to sit down. Lily suspected it was the Hufflepuff who sat behind her and was friends with James. What was going on today? People seemed to be ignoring her and now deliberately trying to make things difficult. What had she ever done to William? What had she ever down to Dorcas and Elphias to cause them to glare at her in Charms?

She looked around as she got up to see if maybe James had told William to do this. No, he was sitting there, staring at the wall with his head in his hands, taking no notice of anything.

She started paying attention the lesson again and forgot everyone's unusual behavior.

At lunch, Lily went down to the Great Hall and tried to sit between two girls she knew. They immediately scooted closer to each other on the bench, a deliberate sign that she was not supposed to sit with them. This happened three more times, with 7 other people.

Finally, Lily sat on the end of the table, alone.

She would have sat with Alice, but she couldn't find her anywhere.

After a lonely lunch, she left the table early to go wait outside of her next class.

She was waiting and there were about ten minutes left before class was supposed to start when Remus showed up.

"What's going on, Re?" she asked. She was the only one allowed to call him Re, and she knew it. She used the nickname now to show that she wanted honest answers and that he was her friend and deserved to get honest answers.

"Lillers," he said, using her old nickname as well; the nickname only he was allowed to use. "I'm your friend, so that's the only reason I'm speaking to you now. I'm giving you a warning. You're not paranoid. Everybody really _is_ out to get you. I'm your friend, but I'm James's too. You've hurt him, and you've hurt him bad. I'm not going to stand to see him getting treated like this. Neither will Sirius or Peter, or his other friends. Sirius and James have a lot of friends." He was suddenly very interested in staring at his shoe. "James doesn't know it, but Sirius has been calling in favors and getting people on his side. Between Quidditch and overall popularity, James and Sirius both have a _lot_ of friends."

"You said that already."

Remus's eyes shot up at her. "Shut-up. I'm getting to the point. James doesn't know it, but Sirius put the word out that you've hurt James and a lot of people here don't want to see him hurt. He's been talking to people all day and getting them to talk to other people. You've got most of the female population and at least a quarter of the male population here against you. Thought you ought to know that."

"You're not against me, are you?"

Remus gave her a sympathetic look before he continued. "I know this is hard on you, but you can't play with other people's feelings. I'm…I'm not speaking you again until you make your mind up about him one way or the other. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. You can't treat people like yo-yos."

"But, Re—"

"No, Lily. No 'Re'. We're done until you decide. You have to make up your mind."

Just then, the rest of the class started showing up and Remus turned his back on her to talk to his friends.

Lily sat alone during Potions. Normally she would have sat with Remus or Alice, but Remus wasn't speaking to her of course and Alice didn't turn up until just before class started. She was breathing heavily as though she had run to the dungeon all the way from Gryffindor tower (which she had). She grabbed a seat next to Frank and scribbled a quick note to Lily that said, "I've got big news. I'll talk to you after class or when we get up to get something from the student supply cabinet." She discreetly dropped the note and kicked it to Lily.

Lily picked it up, read it, and crumpled it up again.

Eventually it was time to get things from the student supply cupboard and Alice caught Lily's eye when she got up.

"Alice, everyone's been horrible to me today," whispered Lily. "They've ignored me and been deliberately rude. That never happens to me. And it's everybody."

"Sirius is behind it."

"I know," Lily said grimly. "I heard he's been talking to people."

"More than that, look what I found." Alice grabbed a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.

Lily took it and read it. "Are you tired of girls who think guys have no feelings? Are you a friend of James Potter? James has been hurt by one of these heartless fiends and needs your help. I'm placing banning myself from any friendly contact with Lily Evans, who has treated James just like this! She made him think she liked him, dated him in secret, and then humiliated himself in front of the common room. Join me, Sirius Black, in making her miserable and earning James some self-respect back!" Underneath was a poorly drawn illustration of a stick figure girl with red hair and green eyes holding a knife with a heart on it. "Where did you get this?" asked Lily, almost trembling.

"The common room, somebody must have left it there. But that's not all. I heard Sirius got people to take these flyers into the other house common rooms too. And, I don't know how he managed it, probably by batting his eyes at some girl; he got posters up all along the girls' dormitory staircase. When everybody was leaving for class to start at the end of lunch, I checked the boys' dormitory. Flyers inside every dorm but the 7th year guys. I guess Sirius didn't want James to know about them."

"So that's where you were."

Suddenly there was explosion, some smoke, and when the smoke cleared Lily looked back to see that her cauldron was melting rapidly. Someone came over then and had the decency (or maybe not) to pour cool water on it to stop the melting, but by then all that remained was a large metal blob. The desk was mostly ruined too.

Professor Turpin looked exasperated, "Who did that?" She looked back at the usual suspects. James Potter was sitting quietly in a corner, staring at the wall. Sirius Black looked grim. Remus Lupin was scribbling down notes from the board. Severus Snape was playing with a piece of string. Who else would have tried to destroy Lily Evans's cauldron? Lily was such a good girl. "Miss Evans, why don't you go share Mr. Longbottom's cauldron?"

They got the rest of their ingredients and Lily sat between Alice and Frank.

Frank gave her a sarcastic grin. "Isn't bloody awful to be on Black's hit list?" he asked.

* * *

Hope you liked this. I swear I won't go so long between updates again. I just had no will to write and no idea what to write. I'm going to try to update all my stories equally now and in order so this should be about every 4th or 5th update. Hope you like this. Thanks for your patience. Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait! But for once, I do have the next chapter started. A whole 2 sentences. I know, I know. Sorry. PLEASE don't hate me.


	9. Chapter 9: Sorting

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this. Rather depressing isn't it? I mean I slave all day and night writing it, and I still don't own the characters and can't make any money off of it.

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's been a while. I had some problems with this chapter. The bit before the end is kinda odd. Yeah, sorry. I'll try and get more up soon. The next chapter is the continuation of the trial. This story is almost over. Only a few more chapters. 2, maybe 3 more I think. Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this. You make me feel so special! We broke passed the reviews barrier! Um, there's going to be a note inside the story about Sirius's behavior in the last chapter.

**Replies:**

**Drusilla W. L. Tonks**—Thanks. There may be more stuff to do with the story name, I'm not sure. That story name was from when this was only supposed to be a 1-shot. Thanks!

**Hekate101**—Hi. I emailed you. Hope you like this.

**Susan D**—Thanks. I had some reservations writing this story, I wasn't sure how it'd turn out.

**Maria**—Thanks. Sorry it's been a while since the update (again).

**Swishy Willow Wand**—Thanks. Hope this was soon enough.

**Ron-lover-for-life**—Thanks. : - )

**Briana Marie**—Yeah. I think James will be steamed when/if he finds out. I never really decided how James will find out. Maybe he won't…I don't know. I'm babbling. Thanks. I fixed Sirius's note to the school that "I'm placing banning" jumped off the page when I printed it and I just about died. I fixed it on my computer, but haven't re-uploaded it yet. Yeah. I feel bad about making Lily miserable, but I'm used to making James miserable and I was ready for a twist.

**Tigerlily98**—Thanks. : - )

**Crazy4padfoot**—Thanks. Glad you liked it so much.

**Lorliant Angelisa Snape**—I haven't cried reading any of my stuff, but I did cry writing Sirius's last words to Lily in another story after Lily's death. I feel so awful for Lily right now though. Hopefully her torture is nearly over. Sirius is very loyal…like a puppy dog! Sorry, I'm very hyper right now. James will get mad if/when he finds out about it. He's kinda been miserable and dazed and not really noticing things. Well, see, I kinda thought he was being neutral. He's not doing anything against her, but he feels so bad for James that he's not talking to her. Thanks!

**FlamezFlyer**—Plottage. Good word. I like it. Yeah, I feel really sorry for Lily and James and a little bit for Remus and Frank. Hehe, I love the nicknames Lillers and Re! They rock.

**Faerie Lover**—Thanks. Yeah, Sirius is being evil. But don't worry. I can have him run over with a truck if you'd like. Or maybe mauled by a hippogriff.

**Queen of Zan**—Thanks so much. It is really annoying actually. I just wrote the first chapter of this to clear my head so I could get working on my other stories again and then I got kinda stuck writing another 9 chapters so far. Oh well, I like the story now, but I kinda wish it was over. Thanks again for reviewing.

**Mrs.shigwa.cobain**—Thanks. I really meant to make that chapter 2 days. Like the first day everyone ignored her, and then the second day everyone was mean. But I got lazy. Maybe I'll edit it and change it later this summer. Yeah, maybe I'll just change the chapter title to "Wrath" or something. Sorry it's been so long since the update. Busy between finals and going away for the weekend.

**PeRkieGuRL**—Thanks. Yay! I'm not hated! Thanks, sorry it's been so long.

**Gwendolyn James**—I feel so bad for Lily too. I just can't help her. Well, I'm the omnipowerful author, so I could help her, but it'd ruin the story. Hehe.

**Hi Im Crazy**—Thanks. I love the UPLARS. I just can't think of another story for them. Any ideas? I've got one (Lily admitting her feelings about James). Sirius was very mean. Hope this update was soon enough.

**Ashley48506**—Thanks. I'm still trying to figure out what's going to happen with her and James. I'm not quite sure yet. I'm interested in finding out though. I've just got to sit at my computer long enough and it'll come to me.

**Book lover**—Thanks so much. : - )

**Songbreeze**—Thanks. Sorry all my chapters are so short.

**Siriusforeva**—Black's hit list. Hmm…'tis a dangerous list to be on! I feel bad for lily too.

**Frankie Beeblebrox**—I decided that for once, Lily should be the one to get tortured. You know I'm always hurting poor Jamesie. James's probably make it up to her…if he forgives her. :::evil laugh::: Thanks. Glad you liked it.

**From the Silent Planet**—Thanks. They were that mean because they felt so bad for James. I know it was a bit unrealistic. James honestly is so out of it right now because he's so miserable, that he really has no idea what's going on.

**Bulgly—**I know it's a bit drastic and unrealistic. It's not too harsh to say that. I meant to slow that down and have one day of being ignored by some people and then it kind of escalating to more people and being totally treated awful like that, but I rushed things, which I probably shouldn't have done. I'm going to go back and do some editing at some point. I'm just not sure when I'll get the chance. It'll go somewhere. I promise.

**DOJ—**Sirius was acting like a dog! Bad dog! Bad! Ahem, sorry, hyper. I feel really bad for Lily. Thanks. I hope you like this next chapter.

**

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**Chapter 9: Sorting**

"He probably didn't do that himself. He's gotten smarter. I'm sure he delegated the task to somebody else," Frank said, somewhat sourly.

"I didn't realize you were on such bad terms with them. I mean, you're all in the same dorm," Lily said.

"I got on the bad side of them a long time ago. That's why I spend so much time by myself. I don't want to hang out with them and they don't want to hang out with me."

"What happened?" Lily asked, curious.

"I'd rather not discuss it," Frank said darkly.

Lily decided not to press him about it now. After all, he and Alice were just about the only ones on her side. While they waited for the potion to simmer they talked some more.

Frank asked, "So what exactly happened between you and Sirius to get you on his list? He keeps a list, you know. He left it out once and I saw it, but I didn't get to read much. All I saw was the heading and the first name on the list before he snatched it away. Snape was the first name on the list. I know the stuff with Snape is ongoing, what did you do to get on the list?"

"I didn't do anything to him."

"Then it must have been one of the other ones. The one thing I'll say about Sirius is that compared to him, Hufflepuffs are snakes when it comes to loyalty. He'd kill or die for his friends, no questions asked," Frank said.

"I hurt one of his friends. I hurt James."

"The BEEQIP?" Frank asked.

"What's the BEEQIP?" she asked.

Alice grinned at her. "The Blue-Eyed Egotistical Quidditch Insane Prat."

"Yeah, him. I hurt him pretty bad, I think." She turned back to look at James, still staring at the wall. He looked a little puffy eyed, but that might have just been a trick of the light. "I acted crazy over Christmas. I wouldn't say we had a relationship, it was more like…a fling."

Frank stared at her, "The girl who didn't think there was a guy good enough in the school to have a relationship with, has a random fling with the guy she hates?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but he was _different_. Not like he usually is. He was normal. He was nice. And I…I felt like acting like a teenager just once, you know? To do something crazy. I mean, we're graduating in 6 months and I've never done anything wild or spontaneous. And no matter how much of a prat James can be, I've seen him be really sweet too, when he thinks nobody is paying attention. Besides, no matter how much of a jerk he is, he is _really_ cute and if I was going to have a fling with somebody, why not him?" she finished in a miserable, quiet rush.

Alice and Frank looked at each other. "She's got it bad," Alice said.

"Yeah," agreed Frank.

"What are you talking about?"

Alice mused, "How do I put this delicately? I think you've finally sorted out your feelings for James Potter."

"Wait, I just sorted out my feelings? What are my feelings? Why wasn't I informed?" Lily asked.

"It sounds like you like him," Frank said bluntly, corking their flask of potion. He got up and went to Professor Turpin's desk to deposit it.

Lily looked back at James again. She felt guilty for the way she'd treated him, but that didn't mean she liked him. But had she said the same thing over Christmas? Hadn't she thought that she might be falling for him? Hadn't she thought it all year?

The class was dismissed and everyone left their seats. Frank and Alice stood on either side of Lily to protect her and prod her along down the hallway.

They could both tell she was doing intense thinking. "Come on, Lils. Think out loud for us," Alice said.

"I'm the Head Girl. He is a troublemaker. And he has a reputation for being a troublemaker. But he's the Head Boy. Dumbledore wouldn't have made him Head Boy for no reason. Or maybe Dumbledore just wanted to torture me. He's changing. Not Dumbledore, James I mean. James is changing. He's not the immature prat I always used to fight with. Then again, we were fighting just before Christmas. He was spying on me in the common room. Even if I wanted him, which I'm not saying I do, after what I did I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't forgive me. I wouldn't forgive me if I were in his shoes. I mean I completely humiliated him in front of the entire common room. Somebody with as big a head as him must have taken it hard. He was so sweet to me on Christmas though. Him and Sirius both were. But isn't Sirius the one who just turned the school on me? I'm so confused!" she said.

"Don't worry, Lily. We'll figure this out together. Let's take her to Hagrid. Maybe he can help sort her out."

"The Groundskeeper?" asked Lily. She didn't usually talk too much to Hagrid, namely because she spent more time in the library than on the grounds and she wasn't outside playing Quidditch. Hagrid was a little intimidating.

"Yeah. He'll be able to help."

Lily let them lead her away. They walked across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. Frank rapped on the door.

"Comin', I'm comin'," a voice grumbled. "Frank! Alice! And who's this? The 'ead Girl?" He gave them all a bone-crushing hug. "Come in. I'll put a pot of tea on."

Lily followed her friends inside. There was a huge bed and table and chairs. They sat down and Hagrid brought a large pot and some mugs. "Now, what seems ter be the trouble?"

"It's James," Frank said.

"He buggin' you agin, is 'e?" asked Hagrid.

"No, no, he hasn't done a thing to me. It's Lily here. She seems a little confused about him. Tell me, how much do you think he's changed since first year?" Frank asked.

"He was a little tyke in firs' year. Now he's as tall as a bean pole."

"No, no, Hagrid, we mean his personality," Alice said.

"He was always a bit full of himself from the first. But then last year he sorta sobered up ter the fact that it doesn't do nobody any good ter be a prat. He's a good guy. Not afraid ter get his hands dirty. When I was sick and couldn' take care of the pumpkins aroun' Halloween he stepped in and spent ev'ry night down here for a week helping take care of 'em after Quidditch practice."

"Really?" asked Lily, curious.

"Oh yeah. Yeh shouldda seen the hours he spent workin'. Last summer he watched Fang, my puppy, for a month while I went on a trip fer Dumbledore. James Potter is a good man, a good man."

"What would you think of Lily and James as a couple?"

"Is this Lily Evans? James really cares abou' 'er."

"Lily is Head Girl, and she never really gets in trouble. Do you think it would 'damage her reputation' to go out with James?"

"Nah. James is a nice guy. A very nice guy."

"Thanks, Hagrid. Come on, Lily, you've got somebody to talk to."

"I'm not talking to him," she said as the three of them walked outside and Frank and Alice waved goodbye to Hagrid.

Lily spent the rest of the day hiding not only from the people who were mad at her, but also from James, Alice, and Frank. If James found her, she might accidentally admit something. If Alice and Frank found her, they might force her to admit something. So instead, she spent the day hiding in a hidden alcove behind a large tapestry, reading.

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This chapter is probably not my best work. Sorry. I had trouble with it. I'll try to update soon and get things moving again. This chapter was supposed to have more of her actually "sorting" out her feelings for him, but it kind of didn't I guess. I'm going to try and make the next chapter better.


	10. Chapter 10: Night Two

**Disclaimer**—I own nothing but this hat I bought in Italy.

**Author's Note**—I'm so so so sorry! Did I mention I'm sorry? I went away for a total of about 4 weeks this summer, most of that being the last 3 weeks in a row. So I haven't been updating. Please forgive me and keep reviewing. Replies are here as usual, and I really hope this chapter is better than the last one. I didn't really get to start hammering it out until 3 days ago.

REPLIES

**Faerie Lover**—Thanks! Hehe. I had to come up with some reason for Frank not to be a Marauder. I like putting him and Alice in the same year as Lily and James. :-)

**Hi Im Crazy**—I feel kind of bad for Lily too, but she still treated James absolutely horrible with the mistletoe thing. I dunno if I said this or not, but I'm working on the UPLARS for when Lily tells Remus about how she feels about James. It should be pretty good, but I'm so behind on chapter fics that I don't know when I'll be able to work on it again.

**Swishy Willow Wand**—Hehe! It's fun to confuse people. I think I want to write a story where somebody gets blindfolded, spun around 3 times, and told to find their common room. Very confusing! Thanks. Sorry it's taken so long to update.

**Ashley48506**—Thanks. Hehe, the apology. Might take a while. Lily is a stubborn little thing! You're welcome. Want me to keep emailing updates?

**Lily hostetler**—Thanks! Hehe, you're a night owl, like me. I stay up pretty late.

**Briana Marie**— Maybe if I ever get time to revise I'll fix it…somehow. Yeah, Hagrid was kind of random. He just spoke so well of Lily and James in _Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone _that I wanted to put him in somewhere. Hope you like this chapter. Next chapter I think I'm going to have James's point of view a lot.

**Popppincorn**—Hehe. She'll talk to James soon. Not yet (stubborn Lily!) but soon!

**FlamezFlyer**—Hehe. I got that because people always say I'm blunt. I try to be tactful, but…eh. Not worth the trouble. :-) Thanks! I'm sorry it's been so long, between camp (1 week), camp counseling (1 week), and Italy with my mom (2 weeks), I haven't been home much to type.

**Professor D. S. Silvers**—Aw, thanks so much!

**Frankie Beeblebrox**—Hey, Frankie! I swear I'll email soon, I just got back from Italy on Friday night and I've been wiped. I'm going to detail my trip in my Xanga. Must catch up on my trip journal. I got behind and never finished. I see Lily kind of being afraid of James and her feelings like that. Hehe! Of course he has a list! Merlin forbid he put an ounce of energy toward schoolwork or studying, it all goes toward the list and plotting revenge!

**Siriusforeva**—Thanks! Lily can't admit her feelings because she's a stubborn little girl who cares too much about what other people think when it comes to that sort of thing. Interesting, no? Didn't care about how she dressed, dressing un-fashionably and so-on, but she cares if she dating a troublemaker. That Lily!

**PeRkieGuRL**—Thanks! I'm sorry the wait has been so long. I've been out of town so much.

**Loraliant Angelisa Snape**—Thanks so much. I'm sorry it's been so since the last chapter. I keep going out of town too. How was your trip? You said you were going away for 2 weeks?

**Queen of Zan**—Thanks. I just had to add Hagrid. He's oodles of fun!

**Hekate101**—Cool? Thanks! Yay! :::special:::

**DOJ**—Thanks. I'm hoping this chapter came out better than the last one. I like the idea of Frank and Alice as Lily's close friends. Glad you liked Hagrid in there, I wasn't sure about him.

**Maria**—Thanks! Sorry it's taken me so long to update.

**Curiousdragon**—Hi! Yeah, the beginning was Mary-Sue-ish, they get together in what, chapter 3? With no reasonable explanation? I was just setting James up for his heartbreak. :::evil laughter::: I'm trying not to keep it too predictable. Trying to keep the twists in there. I hope you like this chapter.

**Crazy4padfoot**—Wow! Classes already? I start in three weeks, and that's pretty early for out here. Yeah, that last chapter was a little lame. I was trying to get over some writer's block. I think this one is better, at least, I hope it is. Sorry it's taken me so long to update.

**Gwendolyn James**—Glad you liked it so much! I was nervous about putting in the bit with Hagrid in it. I wasn't sure about how well it fit.

**BrokenSkye**—I love Hagrid. He's so much fun to write. I just don't know how effective he was in changing Lily's mind…

**Holly-evans**—Thanks. Sorry it's taken so long to update!

**S**—I'm so sorry! Between one thing and another I have posted anything in ages…

**Me'aer**—Thanks. I try to do things differently and make things as un-cliché as possible. Yup, he smiles! Ever heard the phrase "fool in love"? Or "crazy things we do for love"? I love those. James is absolutely hopeless! Hehe. I try to make this realistic. I was nervous about Lily and Sirius's talk, because I honestly wasn't sure how it'd turn out. Really? The Hit List was kind of a random thing I added just for fun! Sorry it's been so long since my last update.

**Artemis Moonsong**—Thanks. I'm so sorry it's taken me forever to update!

**Amy Lampion**—Lily gets portrayed as "perfect" a lot of times, and I just wanted to show that she wasn't. So she made some major mistakes in this story. :-) I'm glad you think I did a good job keeping them canon! I really try to keep everybody In-Character, sometimes it's easier than others.

On with the story!

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**Chapter 10: Night Two**

Midnight found Lily, Alice, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James in the common room for a continuation of the trial. They weren't the only ones there. Frank had come to join in on Lily's side (what did he have to lose? Sirius and his bunch already hated him). Also joining the trial were about a dozen other students, a Hufflepuff boy, and Ravenclaw girl. Somehow they'd all found out about what was going on. The Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw had come as delegates for their houses. They wanted to find out just what went on and made plans to stay with Gryffindors that night. They'd had to draw straws in their common rooms to decide who would get to come.

Lily looked around uneasily. She couldn't do it. Not with all these people standing here. She couldn't just say she was crazy about James Potter. That was not going to happen. End of story.

"If there are no objections, we'll continue where we left off."

"_I_ have an objection," Frank said loudly, as he got to his feet.

Remus sighed and Sirius shot Frank a glare that would have melted iron. "What do you want, Longbottom?" Sirius snapped.

"I'll ask the questions here, Sirius. What do you want, Longbottom? I mean, what are you doing here, Frank?"

"I'm here because Sirius Black has been slandering the good name of Lily Evans. He's been spreading around half-truths and lies the way Hagrid spreads manure around the pumpkins every autumn."

Lily blinked at Frank's analogy and stole a quick glance at James. He hadn't moved since Sirius had dragged him down from their dormitory. He was still sitting with his face in his hands, but his eyes had changed. They were no longer staring blankly at the wall, no longer glazed over. He was slowly drawing himself out of his daze. Someone had managed to say something that finally got to him.

One of the third years who'd joined the newly formed jury, said, "But what about how she humiliated him?" This third year had a very high opinion of James and sent an "anonymous" letter to him at least once a month.

"What does that matter?" asked Alice. The next 5 words were spoken slowly and evenly. "She broke up with him. Big deal! It happens to everybody sometimes. Sometimes it's worse than others. Who here can honestly say they haven't broken up with somebody, or had somebody break up with them?" Some of the younger ones raised their hands, but Alice dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "It'll happen to you too. Trust me. Sure Lily was a little harsh, romance is. But stuff like this happens to everybody."

"But this is James Potter!" insisted the third year. "Nobody's ever broken up with him before. I know I wouldn't," she gushed.

Lily was fairly sure that she heard Alice mutter, "hormone crazy ditz" before Frank continued.

"The point is, everybody has bad relationships. Some breakups are worse than others. But everybody moves on. Everybody deals with it. That is, everybody but Potter here. He's been moping around ever since the night before term started and because of that, his friend decided to take action by getting revenge on Lily…and all of you have been a part of it. He told you that Lily humiliated James. Well, James put her on the spot. She didn't mean to embarrass him, she didn't mean to hurt him. It happens to _everybody_. It was the night before term started again and they were caught under the mistletoe in a full common room. What was she supposed to do? Anything that happened between them over Christmas break should stay where it belongs: Christmas break."

Hilary, the third year, was about to say something, but the boy next to her firmly clamped a hand over her mouth.

Sirius stood up. "I think we've heard all we need to hear, Longbottom. I think it's clear the Lily Evans is guilty."

The Ravenclaw stood up, "Guilty of what? What are the charges? And what did Black do that was so terrible?"

Frank, Alice, Sirius, and Remus all tried to talk at once.

"SHUT-UP!" screamed Lily.

Everybody turned around and looked at her. "Sorry," she said meekly.

Remus glared at Sirius, Alice, and Frank. "I'll answer the questions. Miss Evans has been accused of being deceptive, misleading James Potter, misconduct, and public humiliation; so Mister Black stated the charges pressed by Mister Potter. By our reports, Mister Black has been telling this to other people."

Alice just about exploded. "_Telling? TELLING!_" she screamed. "Look at this!" She took out a fist full of flyers from her robes and threw one at Remus, and the rest at the jury. They were the flyers she'd found earlier. "I'm sure you've all seen these. They've been floating around the school in common rooms and dormitories. Sirius Black has convinced people to go out of their way to make things difficult for Lily Evans today. So far she's encountered unwillingness for anyone to sit with her, someone sabotaged her potion and melted her cauldron, and pulled her chair out from under her. She was ignored and treated badly."

Lily bit her lip. She hadn't told Alice about Sirius's little _talk_ with her. Or Remus's.

James turned his head slowly and blinked once. "Is this true, Padfoot?" He said "Padfoot" low enough that no one else heard it.

"Well…she hurt you, James. I couldn't let her do that. I couldn't stand to see you miserable anymore. I just had a little talk with some of the students. That's all. I didn't hex her or anything. Not yet anyway. You don't deserve to be treated the way she treated you."

"I can't believe you did that."

"James, I wasn't going to let her hurt you anymore. I j—"

"What did I tell you? What did I tell you? Huh?" James's voice was taking on an edge.

"Pron—"

Now his voice was dangerous. "I told you that she was off-limits. That no matter how much she tormented me, nobody is allowed to hurt her. You broke the rules. Broken." He stood up and stalked upstairs. Had anybody been in his way, he would have pushed them. Wisely, they backed away when they saw him coming.

After a few dumbfounded seconds, Sirius ran after him.

Pete ran after Sirius, but by the time he reached the stairs, Sirius was back in sight and screaming, "He's gone!"

"Are you sure he's not just hiding from you?" asked Pete.

"No, he's gone. Took his cloak and everything."

Remus, having just jogged over from across the common room, groaned. "Now we'll never find him."

"What makes you say that?" asked Alice, coming over at last.

"When James Potter doesn't want to be found, he can't be found."

"There are only so many places he can hide," she insisted. She pushed her way past the three boys and up the stairs, into the boys' dormitories.

Pete glanced back at Lily. She hadn't moved from her seat. She stared at James's vacated seat. Pete spotted something through the window behind Lily. "Look!" Nobody seemed to hear him. He thumped Remus and Sirius on the shoulders, "I said LOOK!" and ran over to the window where a figure was flying on a broom.

Alice came back down the stairs. "I can't find him anywhere unless he's hiding in one of the other dorms. The window was open. It's raining. You don't think he'd be stupid enough to climb down the castle wall, do you?" she asked Remus. "Then again, it's Potter. He might be that stupid."

Peter had had enough. He went back grabbed Alice and Remus by their sleeves and prodded Sirius with his foot. "James _flew_ out the window. He's outside!" He pointed a finger melodramatically at the flying speck that was James.

Sirius smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Bloody lunatic! He's gonna get himself struck by lightning." He didn't waste anymore time and ran upstairs. Within moments, the crowd now gathered around the window (nobody thought to look out one of the other windows) saw Sirius flying past to try and chase after James.

"Er, I guess we'll leave them to that then. He'll bring him back. I guess we've heard everything we need to hear. If everybody'll sit down again…?" asked Remus.

By now about half of the jury had wandered off. The remaining members sat down and Alice sat back down next to Lily. Frank hadn't moved; Potter and Black were being stupid, again. What else was new? For all he knew, they may have planned it. He sat moodily and watched the window from his seat before turning his attention back to Remus.

Remus cleared his throat. "Now, of the 4 charges listed earlier, who finds Miss Evans guilty? Raise your hand." Remus counted. Peter counted. Frank counted. Alice counted. Lily sat, wondering what exactly was supposed to happen if she was proved guilty. "Now who thinks Miss Evans is innocent? Hands." Again, Remus counted. Again Peter, Alice, and Frank all counted silently. Again Lily said wondering, what would happen if she were declared innocent? "It's a tie. Four of you say guilty, four of you say innocent. Is anyone planning on changing their answer?"

Two people raised their hands. "I want to change my vote to guilty. She was so mean to him that he ran out in the rain so he didn't have to stay here anymore."

"I want to change my vote to innocent. He's over-reacting."

Remus sighed. "Re-vote. Guilty, raise your hands." He counted. "Innocent, the same." Again, it was a tie. "This is getting us nowhere…"

"Wait a second, does this mean we're going to have to continue this for a _third_ night?" asked Alice.

"Well, we didn't seem to get anywhere tonight," Remus said exasperatingly.

"That's not true. We got Sirius to admit that he's been conspiring against Lily Evans. James was obviously displeased. I think he's going to call off all charges and drop the case."

"I don't think so," said Peter.

"Why not?" asked Alice.

"Because, it wasn't his idea in the first place. It was all Sirius," Peter replied.

Frank muttered, "It's _always_ Sirius."

Lily bit her lip as she heard a clap of thunder. James and Sirius were out there, in the rain, because she'd done something stupid. She'd kissed and flirted with James all through Christmas break, and then expected things to be able to go back to normal when everybody came back for term. But she couldn't just admit everything, could she? No…when it came to clothes or looks, she couldn't care less about what other people though. Be as unnoticeable as possible that was pretty much her motto. But James? That was her reputation. She was the good girl. She was Head Girl. She'd been a Prefect. She got top marks. He was a bad boy. He was a troublemaker with the second highest detention record in the school (give you one guess at who held the highest record). He was the Quiditch player who'd somehow beat out Frank and Remus for the Head Boy spot. What would people think if they got together? Would everyone stop trusting Lily's judgment? Her authority? Her senses? Her promises? She'd often said she would rather go out with the giant squid than so much as look at James Potter. There was a flash of lightning and she woke up from her reverie with Frank's hand on her arm. She looked at him and he nodded toward where Alice was arguing with Remus and Peter.

He whispered, "I sent her over because I didn't trust myself not to strangle those two."

She felt a weak smile twitch at her lips.

Alice came back. "We'll resume tomorrow if necessary, just the 7 of us."

"Do you think it will be necessary?" asked Lily.

"I'm not sure," she said, a worry line forming on her forehead. "Remus is sending everybody off to bed now."

"Shouldn't I do that? I'm Head Girl."

"He just figures you've had a rough day."

People doubting her already! She was more than capable of shooing off a few students. She let him round up the boys and send the girls off herself. "Get upstairs. Move it along, it's late. I'm remembering faces; if any of you try to skip class tomorrow because you're too tired, you'll get detention. It's your own fault for staying out here when you should be in bed. Move along. You, you're not a Gryffindor. Name?"

"Stephanie. I'm Ravenclaw. Sixth year."

"Where are you staying? It's too late to be wandering the castle this late at night."

"I'm staying in the Gryffindor fifth year girl's dormitory. Morgan Feylé is my cousin."

"That's right. My name's Morgan. I cleared it with the other girls, and her roommates know where she is," Morgan said, seeing Lily talking to her cousin.

"Alright. Upstairs, the both of you."

Soon only Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, and Lily were left in the common room.

Frank gave Lily and Alice a hug. "Goodnight, Frankie," smiled Alice, stifling a hug.

"G'night, Frank. Thank you."

"Welcome, girls. I'll see you both at breakfast." He smiled at both of them and waited at the bottom of the boys' staircase.

Peter waved goodbye and went upstairs. Remus cast an uneasy glance at Frank before turning to Lily and Alice. "Alice, is it okay if I have a minute alone with Lily?"

Alice paused before replying. "Fine. Lily, just scream if you need me." After one last glare at Remus, Alice started up the stairs, but stopped just out of sight.

"Look, Lily, I'm sorry about all this. As much as James didn't deserve to be treated the way you treated him, and I know you didn't mean too," he added hurriedly. "You didn't deserve to be treated the way Sirius treated you. I'm sorry." He gave a slight smile. "When it comes to his best friends, Sirius has an almost _doglike_ sense of loyalty. I don't care if you like James, or don't like James, but for everybody's sake, I wish you'd make up your mind. It's not fair to anybody really. Just, please, think about it. It's late now, but in the morning, think about it. Please, Lillers?"

She gave a tiny laugh. "Alright, Re. Soon. I'll make up my mind soon. Maybe you and I can talk tomorrow?"

"Anytime. As long as you tell Frank not to kill me. I think he'd be happier if he just got rid of the whole rest of the dormitory."

"You may be right about that. 'Night."

"G'night." Remus went back to the staircase and went up it, followed by Frank.

Lily wasn't surprised to find Alice waiting on the stairs. "What did he say?" she asked.

"Not much. Don't worry, you don't have to have Frank kill him anytime soon."

"Alright."

As they opened the door and went in, Lily asked, "Alice?" She took out her pajamas and started to put them on.

Alice was doing the same. "Yeah?"

"If they decide I'm innocent, what happens?"

"The BEEQIP will never bother you again. We should have made the deal that his friends wouldn't bother you again either, but I guess it's a little too late for that."

"And if I'm guilty?"

"Then you have to apologize to James, publicly, and tell everyone just what happened over Christmas." Alice climbed into bed. "But you didn't mean to hurt him. Unintentional harm shouldn't count as a crime. Like if a Beater is playing Quidditch and hits the Bludger out of the stadium and it hits somebody walking by, it's not really their fault. It was an accident. They had no idea what would happen. So they aren't really guilty."

Lily went and sat by the window, watching for Sirius and James to come back. She whispered to herself, "But I _am_ guilty."

* * *

NEXT CHAPTER:

1. James's point of view (I think).

2. Possibly the last chapter, maybe second or third to last.

3. I don't know what else will be in it, because I haven't started it yet.

Please review! I'll try not to keep you waiting like that again.


	11. Chapter 11: James

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own this.

**Author's Note: **I'm so so so sorry! It turns out this chapter has been done for a couple of weeks, but I forgot about it. I'm so sorry!

* * *

**Replies:**

**Glaz—**I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update!

**Iavala**—Thanks. I don't think the books ever say what color eyes he has. I've heard people say blue, hazel, or brown.

**Amy Lampion—**Thanks so much! You're so sweet. I really tried to keep them as in character as I could. :-)

**Icriedwhensiriusdied—**Thanks!

**Holly-evans**—Sorry. You'll just have to wait and see. Like she said, she _is_ guilty…

**From the silent planet—**Thanks! Yeah, I kinda balanced out this story and _Switched_ by mostly being cruel to Lily in the story and torturing James in the other one.

**Briana Marie**—I'd planned to make this all James' POV but I couldn't make it stick, so I think it's about half him. Yeah, Remus comes a little bit more to his senses here.

**DOJ—**Thanks, I'm having a lot of fun with Frank and Alice in this. It makes it easier than just adding a bunch of OCs as her friends. Hehe. I kind of see James as the melodramatic sort personally, but that may just be me.

**Madame-knight**—Thanks for letting me know. I searched that penname and I think she's gone. Either that or she changed her name. Yeah, I definitely agree that if she's going to write such a horrible review she could have at least spelled things right. I'm glad you like my story.

**Faerie Lover**—Thanks! Sorry this has taken so long to update.

**ZayneLily**—Thanks so much!

**Gwendolyn James**—Thanks! I hope you like how James's POV turned out.

**Prongs is mine**—Thanks. Sorry it's taken so long to update.

**Professor D. S. Silvers**—The fashion choices were just in the first chapter. Though they might come back. I guess maybe the fic needs a new name since it's not just one chapter anymore. Thanks!

**Siriusforeva**—Yes, she's guilty, whether her jury of peers feels the same way or not is yet to be determined. I hope you like how this chapter turned out.

**Ron-lover-for-life**—Thanks!

**ashley48506**—Thanks. Frank has been a lot of fun to write. Maybe I'll do a story with him and Alice and baby Neville.

**Queen of Zan**—hehe. Thanks. Muffins…stuff muffin Sirius! My brain works in odd ways.

**PeRkieGuRL**—Yeah, I'm feeling kind of bad for James now. Thanks.

**Frankie** **Beeblebrox—**As you know, vacay was marvy Exactly! That's Lily's problem. She's not really thinking about what _she_ wants. Maybe one of them will die? :::imagines James and Sirius battling to the death::: It's an amusing thought actually…

**Hi Im Crazy**—Sorry it's taken so long again. Yeah, the title has lost all meaning, hasn't it? Don't we all wish school was that fun?

**Loraliant Angelisa Snape**—Thanks. It never rains out here. Sunny southern California, we only get rain in January and February pretty much. You'll just have to wait and see how things go with Lily. :-) Freshman, huh? That puts you at the bottom of the stack doesn't it? How's high school treating you so far?

**Soccerchic1989**—Thanks. I'm glad you stuck with it and kept reading, personally this isn't one of my favorite stories that I've written. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.

**Aquariusbaby205**—Thanks. I try to be kind of original. Glad you like it.

**Artemis Moonsong**—Thanks.

**Lil Bazza**—Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter 11: James**

* * *

James was feeling fairly depressed. He watched the ground speed passed and took no notice when the raindrops started hitting him. With any luck, the other Marauders would think he was hiding somewhere in the castle; he _had _taken the invisibility cloak and map. The map was rolled up at his belt. The cloak hung uselessly across his broom. It was absolutely no good for flying in; between movement and the wind, it just did no good.

How dare Sirius do that to Lily? Sirius knew how James felt. They had a list of people who were not allowed to be targets. Lily's name was on the top of the list, right above Sirius's cousin Andromeda (who had graduated two years earlier). Sirius and his dumb ideas! The stupid trial was Sirius's idea. James didn't even see the point in it. He knew what Lily did. She used him over Christmas, and then dumped him. There was no question about that. The real toughies were whether or not Lily was sorry about it, why she did it, and whether or not she meant to hurt him. He didn't have the answers to these. But as far as he could tell, she didn't seem very sorry.

"James! Prongs! Prongs!"

James gritted his teeth. He should have cast a disillusionment charm, but he hadn't been sure if he could pull it off. Charms weren't his specialty. Too late now. Maybe he could out-fly Sirius. Or slow him down…

"_Impediemente_!"

As James was slowed and pretty much frozen in mid-air, he remembered too late that he'd left his wand on his bed. Remembered cloak, map, and broom, but forgot his wand.

Sirius caught up with him and turned his broom to face him. "What was that about? You just storm out and fly off? Are you a bloody lunatic? Didn't you see the clouds? The storm that coming?" With that, almost as if on cue, the first flash of lightning and peal of thunder came. "Why aren't you answering?" snapped Sirius.

In a slow voice (because of the Impediment Charm), "Idiot."

Sirius grabbed hold of James's broom and took the spell off him. "Answer my questions."

"I can't believe you did that to Lily. We had a deal. Untouchable. No pranks, no mass revenge," James said in a flat voice.

"I'm sorry, but am I supposed to just _let_ her walk all over you?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I would have handled it myself," James said stubbornly.

"Oh, you mean just like you've _been_ handling it? Oh, yeah, great job, Potter. You _handled_ it by walking through school like you were in a trance, not eating, not paying attention to anybody or anything, and _not having fun_! Great way to handle it! Way to go, Potter! You are _not_ the James Potter I know."

"You threatened Lily."

"Oh, for Mer—"

"You know how I feel about her."

"Jame—"

"And you still threatened her."

"But, James! She's not good for you!"

"What do you mean she's not good enough?" he asked fiercely. "I love her."

"I didn't say she wasn't _good enough_ for you. I said she wasn't good for you. You haven't been acting like yourself. You've been out of sorts ever since—"

"Ever since she kissed me over the Christmas holidays, I know!"

"Then _why_, James?"

"Because I love her. She makes me happy. I can't stop thinking about her."

"And _she_ couldn't care less! Don't you understand?"

"Leave me alone, Black," James said in a low voice.

"I'm _your friend_, James. Through thick and thin, 'til the bitter end, but I'm not leaving you to face trouble alone. Real friends don't do that. Why can't you see what this girl is doing to you? She's destroying you from the inside out."

"I can't change how I feel. I love her. The time we spent over the Christmas holidays is the happiest I've felt in a long time, Sirius. The happiest I've felt since I you and I became friends. You know what? I'd go through these last couple of days a hundred times if I could just have my Christmas Lily back for a minute."

"Lily knows what she did to you, James! She knows how hurt you are! What has she done to help you? Nothing!"

"I can't help what I feel anymore than she can help what she feels. She feels like Christmas was a big mistake, and she wishes it never happened. She can't help that. She can't help that anymore than I can help still caring about her anyway. No matter how terrible she's acting," James said softly.

"Can't you try? I want my best friend back."

James looked at him sorrowfully.

* * *

Lily couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't just sit by the window all night. James and Sirius had been out there for ages. She couldn't tell what was going on, only that they were both in the sky. She decided resolutely to do something she'd never done before.

She'd have to apologize to James Potter. That was a given. But not now of course. There was no way she was leaving the nice, safe, ground to go speeding through the air on a twig to go talk to him. Instead, she opted for something else she'd never done.

She crept out of bed and left quickly, without even bothering to find her slippers. If she waited, she'd lose her nerve. She crept quietly down the staircase and into the common room. She took a deep breath, standing in front of the boys' staircase. Now or never. She went up and paused in front of the 7th year boys' dorm. She opened the door stealthily and went inside. Two beds were empty. Sirius and James were still outside. Peter had the curtains fully drawn around his bed. Frank was half in his bed, half out, but soundly asleep. Remus had the curtains open and was staring at the window.

Without turning his head, he said, "Hello, Lily."

She came and sat on his bed. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Who else would come visit me tonight after that outburst from James?" he asked, a grin appearing.

"I guess you've got a point. I shouldn't be here though; what if they wake up?" She pointed at Frank and Peter's beds.

"A stampeding herd of Hippogriffs wouldn't wake them. Even if they did wake up, they wouldn't tell. I take it, that if you broke the rules severely enough to come up here, you've got to be feeling pretty guilty."

She just nodded.

"Alright. Let's make this simple. Do you like James? As a human being, do you like him?"

"Yes. He's funny, witty, but he's a jerk and—"

"Just yes or no, Lillers. Are you sure you?"

"Yes," she said firmly.

"Do you care about him?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you regret what happened over Christmas?"

"No. I regret Christmas ending."

"Tell him," Remus said suddenly, with complete certainty.

"What?" she asked, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. She hastily looked around to make sure the others hadn't woken up; no one else had moved.

"Tell him, and tell him soon. If you care about him _tell him_."

"He deserves so much more than just 'I'm sorry' and 'I like you'," she said, looking away.

"Yes he does. And Sirius deserves a good kick in the head."

"I've been so horrible…"

Remus grabbed her shoulders so that she had to look him in the eye. "Listen, Lily, you _have_ been horrible to him. You humiliated him and caused a lot of grief. But he still cares about you. And you care about him; you just told me so. Sirius caused you a lot of pain; I think it just about makes up for all the hurt you've caused James. But James doesn't care about that sort of thing. If you really meant what you said about not regretting the time you spent with him over Christmas, and about caring about him, then you owe to both of you talk to him."

Lily shrugged his hands off her and went to stand by the window. At least one broom was on it's way back; maybe both. She couldn't tell from such a distance.

Remus came and put an arm around her shoulders. "You know you miss him."

"I know," she said softly.

"Why can't you just tell him?"

"Because, he needs more than just me saying a couple of words." She was silent for a moment, trying to make out the features of the returning flyer. "Will you help me?"

"Anything. What do you need?"

"Moral support for one thing."

He smiled at her. "That, I can give."

"And I don't know what else." She shut her eyes and looked as though she might fall asleep on her feet.

Remus stood ready to catch her.

Lily's eyes shot open. "I've got it. I need an idea. A way for a big public apology. 'Cause this isn't private anymore, is it?"

He shook his head sadly. "Nothing's private when it involves the Head Boy, the Head Girl, and romance. Especially when the Head Boy is James Potter, the sought after Quidditch star that none of the girls can get a hand on; and Lily Evans, brightest witch in her year who outshines the Ravenclaws in brilliance."

"And out-roars a lion in screaming," she added, with a half-smile.

He looked out the window again. The flyer was getting closer; both of them were, though the other was still further behind. Remus nodded at the window, and Lily followed his gaze. "You ought to be getting to bed. They'll be back soon and you look like you're about to fall asleep on you're feet. C'mon." He started leading her toward the door.

"You're right. Hey, Re, could I have one more thing?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"A hug?"

"That, I can do." He put his arms around in her in an extra tight big-brother-loves-you hug.

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Now go on. You're going to fall asleep on your feet." He gave her a little push out the door, and watched her walk down the stairs to the common room and disappear in the direction of the girls' staircase.

Remus shut the door and took one final glance out the window to see that his friends were on their way back. He went back to his bed and settled in under his blankets. He waited for Sirius and James to return. He heard them argue quietly before settling down themselves. It was after three in the morning, and Remus was vaguely aware that he ought to be sleeping.

He'd hoped to remain neutral in this whole ordeal, hence not siding with Lily or James in Sirius's "trial" and not deliberately making Lily's life miserable. He and Lily were such close friends. Of course, no one knew that, but that didn't matter. If he was going be there for James, he ought to be there for her as well. Getting them back together would get _him_ out of the middle and make both his friends happy again.

What would it take for James to forgive Lily?

Remus contemplated the question and solutions until the early hours of the morning. Satisfied at last, he fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12: Forgiveness

**Disclaimer:** This is the final chapter of _The Fashion Choices of Miss Evans_ and I still own nothing. These characters and their settings still belong to Jo Rowling and there's nothing I can do about it.

**Dedication:** To everyone who's read and reviewed this story! _Ophelia-Dumbledore, Stella Blue, ilovetom88, Gerru, glaz, MilliKilo, **Briana Marie,** **Frankie Beeblebrox,** DOJ, songbreeze, soccerchic89, rehaired, Dan-Radcliffes-Girl, Hekate101, Loraliant Aneglisa Snape, Annmarie Aspasia, __dancincheerchik, **siriusforeva,** **Faerie Lover,** Gwendolyn James, ashley48506, _**Starreader1, madame-knight, Professor D. S. Silvers, Skuggis, Ratica, gryffspopgurl, FreckledIrishMaiden, Moonlight on the Water, Ives, Harryandginnyforever, feline-go-meow, PeRkieGuRL, ash vault rose garden, Fey the Rabid Clown Killer, Lil Bazza, UIY, animalluvr75, Susan D, prettyfoot, , **Artemis Moonsong, Muse, Sparky, je, fredlubber, Angeline, Marina, , DLster, Cinammon, Elle30, kluvhp, Hi Im Crazy, marauders3, Creative Deficit, sarah, Rider-of-Rohan23, Sakura, duva, JewelValentine, saxistwriterchick, HyperOnCookies, Angel Enchantress, Dangerkitteh13, Melissa Black13, Manny2003, GryffindorGoddess28, J.E.A.R.K.Potter, tigerlily98, Leha, Queen of Zan, ron-lover-for-life, Eunice, flying fuzzy logic, clyana, madboutu, allie, squidluvr4eva, Unstable Element, Swishy Willow Wand, FlamezFlyer, Rowan BlackPanther, HYPERdingdong39, Kath Southburg, L, kiwibob, Bella, Toria, rOk stA, BrokenSkye, aihjah, maria, SnufflestheInsane, Horseluver, crazy4padfoot, Book lover, From the Silent Planet, Amy Lampion, Nianko, s, holly-evans, curiousdragon, popppincorn, lily hostetler, glaz, Iavala, icriedwhensiriusdied, prongs is mine, aquariusbaby205. (I hope I didn't miss anyone, if I did, I'm sorry! **Bold reviewed since first chapter,** _Italics reviewed last chapter_)

**Author's Note: **This is the final chapter of the story that was supposed to end 11 chapters ago. I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have. I've got 3 other Harry Potter works in progress on this site and several more that I'm going to start posting when I get to the end of _Switched_, so I hope you'll stay tuned and keep reading.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Forgiveness**

* * *

Lily woke up and got ready for her day, wondering if Remus had come up with anything to help her, and hoping that James had come back. She wouldn't put it past him to fly into Hogsmeade or the Forest and stay there all night. She sighed. Worrying about him. That wasn't a good sign. She was never supposed to let herself care about him this much. But it was too late now, much too late. 

She went down the common room and started pacing, waiting for Remus. She almost considered going back up to his dormitory and getting him, but the thought of catching Remus or one of the other boys in the process of getting dress stopped her. She blushed. That would certainly be awkward. So instead, she waited in the common room, pacing to and fro.

Remus however was not the first to come down. Alice came first and Lily told her to go along to breakfast, saying she'd catch up. Next was Frank, Lily sent him along after Alice. Sirius came next, giving her the cold shoulder. James trudged along slowly soon after, ignoring both Sirius and Lily. Peter ran down breathlessly after, calling for them both to wait. Finally, Remus came.

"I thought you'd never get down here. Did you come up with anything?" asked Lily impatiently.

"Gee, thanks for saying hi first," he said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, but I just really wish this was all over."

Remus saw the pain in her face. "I know, Lillers. I know. And I've got an idea."

"You do?"

"Do you remember all the things you've said when you turned James down for dates?"

"Mostly."

"Good. Because for this to work, you're going to have to remember as much as you can."

Lily wasn't sure she liked the grin on Remus's face at all, in fact she wasn't sure she didn't like it, but it was too late to change anything. Damage had been done and now it was time to pay the price.

"Make a list during History of Magic and go down the hallway and turn left. There's a small staircase, The top half of the little sphere lifts up and you can put the list in there. On your way to lunch go back there and I'll have a note waiting for you."

"How am I suppose to make the list without being caught?"

Remus sighed. "It's History of Magic. You're supposed to spend the whole class period writing. Just pretend you're doing notes."

"Alright. And you're sure this plan is going to work?" she asked, nervously.

"It should. I don't see why it shouldn't. But there's always risk involved. Do you care enough about James that you're willing to take that risk?"

"What risk?"

"School-wide humiliation and a broken heart. The same risks he's been taking for you for years."

"I'll do it," she said, with as much certainty as she could manage.

"Good, that's the spirit. That's my girl." He gave her a hug and pecked her friendlily on the cheek. "Or rather, James's girl if we can do anything about it," he said slyly. "Come on, let's go get you some breakfast."

She smiled gratefully at him.

The two of them walked down to breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was sitting alone, sulking. James sat as far from him at the other end of the table stared moodily at his bowl of oatmeal. Peter was sitting with some fifth years he knew, obviously not wanting to get in the way of James and Sirius's fight. Alice and Frank were eating together, smiling at one another as usual and shooting spiteful glares and Sirius and James. Remus and Lily chose to sit together at the Hufflepuff table. Remus muttered, "I don't like the tensions over there. C'mon. Nobody'll miss us." So they passed breakfast talking to the Hufflepuff Prefects, knowing they could always use "Prefect business" as their excuse.

Lily sat in her first class, making her list. Had she really said she'd rather do all these things than kiss or go out with James Potter? It didn't seem possible…but she had. She'd let a few bad experiences with him ruin her feelings for him forever. Okay, so it was more than "a few" bad experiences, and her opinion had finally changed, but she still found it hard to believe she'd been so closed-minded towards him. Feeling ashamed, she finished her list.

She folded the note up into as small a square as it would go and stuck it in her pocket. She started taking notes for the rest of class.

As soon as the bell rang, she hurried to the spot Remus had told her. Sure enough, the top of the banister post lifted up, and she hid the note in there.

Ten minutes later, Remus came and picked it up on the way to his second class. He eyed the list. He'd forgotten about some of this. No matter. It was still workable. Hopefully. He scribbled a reply, with some directions on it and left it there for her to find on her way to lunch. He hustled off to his next class, working on the more detailed parts of his plan and for once ignoring his schoolwork.

Lily was distracted throughout her second period charms class, wondering just what Remus had planned. She couldn't take it anymore and asked to be excused to the bathroom. When she came back, the note from Remus was sitting in her pocket.

When Professor Flitwick was distracted (a feather-stuffed cushion had exploded in his face), Lily took out the note and read it.

_Be free at 5 o'clock to meet me by the lake. Everyone should arrive around 5:15 or so. I'm getting out of class early by faking sick. Get that expression off your face, Lily. I know it's there. If it weren't important, I wouldn't do it. Anyway, I'll get us both some lunch from the kitchen. As soon as lunch starts, meet me in the spare classroom on the fourth floor at the end of the left wing. You should be able to find it easily enough. The door handle is blue. I'll give you more information when you get there._

_Always yours,_

_Re_

Lily fumed. He knew she was going to bad about skipping class and he was going to do it anyway! The nerve of that boy. But she couldn't really complain. He was helping her. That was the important thing. They just had to make things right with James again. They just had to. She waited for class to end. Normally, she loved charms. It was her easiest class. She was a natural at it. But today, she couldn't wait to get out of there and find out what Remus's plan was. She was half-tempted to fake being ill and get out early, but she still retained the morals to sit still in class and wait for the bell like everyone else.

As soon as the bell rang, she told Alice that she had to finish her Potions essay in the library and wouldn't be able to make it down to lunch.

"Are you sure? You ought to grab a bite to eat first."

"I'll stop by and get something from the kitchens, don't worry." It was only half a lie. She was going to eat food from the kitchen.

"Alright then. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Alice." Lily made her way to the room on the fourth floor as quickly as she could. True to his word, Remus was waiting in the room with the blue door handle and he had food with him.

"Hey, Remus. I got your note."

"Hi, Lily. Let's eat while I go over everything today."

Lily started to eat hungrily; she was afraid that whatever Remus might have to tell her about the plan might take her appetite away. The sandwiches were really quite delicious. "What's this called?"

"A Monte-Cristo. Basically turkey, ham, and cheese in a French toast sandwich."

"So what exactly do you have planned?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Just about everyone has heard you say, at some point or another, to James that you'd rather kiss Snape or go out with the giant squid than go anywhere near him."

"Right. Those were first two things on the list I made."

"How would you feel about eating you words?"

Lily winced. That did not sound fun, not to mention the fact that it was an overused cliché. "You mean…kiss…_Snape_? I don't hate him or everything, no matter how horrible he is, but to kiss someone with that many hygiene problems…" She looked like she might throw up.

"I'm sure we can work something out. I'm going to get started on this list and arrange for a bunch of people to be at the lake tonight, including James and Sirius."

"What am I supposed to do to help? What's my part?"

"Find something that'll put this over the top. Something that'll make your little performance out there go the extra mile. Do you have anything in mind?"

She thought back to an argument before Christmas break. "Yeah. I think I do."

* * *

About five hours later, Lily was standing along the edge of the lake with a black cloak around her and clasped tight, nervous. She was standing underneath a tree and concealed by a screen to conceal her "props" for her little performance. Remus was also concealed behind the screen. "I'm nervous, Re. I don't know if I can do this."

"Of course you can, Lillers. You'll be fine. Do you care about James?"

"_Yes_."

"Do you think you love him? Or might love him? Or might someday love him?"

"_Yes_."

"Then that's all that matters. Go get 'em, tiger." He gave her a hug.

"Thanks, Re."

He used a Sonorus Charm on Lily. "Get out there now. Remember what I told you to say." He gave her a little a little shove and she stumbled out from behind the screen and walked up the steps of the podium Remus had arranged from her.

"Hello, everyone. I know there's been a lot of rumors circulating about me and James Potter. Well, I'm here to set them all straight. I said that I would rather go out with the Giant Squid than go out with James Potter." She turned to look over her should and shouted, "SQUID, will you go out with me?"

A giant tentacle raised above the water, waving, then a shot of ink released under the surface.

"I'll take that as a no. I said I'd rather set my hair on fire than go out with James Potter." She took a few tendrils of hair out from her bun and Remus handed her a lit match. The hair started to burn with an awful smell. Remus handed her a jar of water and she put the fire out. "I said I'd rather get hit in the stomach with a Quaffle than kiss James Potter." Remus threw a red ball at her stomach.

The list and the antics went on for about half an hour, until she finally got to her last "I said". "And, I said I'd rather kiss Severus Snape than even look at James Potter."

Remus came out from behind the screen completely this time (instead of just a hand or an arm), wearing a mask he hastily made that afternoon. It had lots of black hair made out of yarn, a hooked nose, and yellow-ish skin.

Lily kissed the paper mask and pushed Remus off the steps and back behind the screen.

"Now that I've done everything I said I'd do rather than date or kiss James Potter, I only have one thing left to say." Her face was beginning to turn really red. "James Potter, will you go out with me?"

Remus ran into the crowd and pulled James out (he'd made sure that James was standing in the front) and pushed him up towards Lily.

He jabbed James in the stomach. "Answer her."

James stared at her. She was wearing a tight pair of jeans and the top he'd help and asked her if she'd wear it with him on a date.

"Well?" she asked, fidgeting nervously.

"I will if you wear that," he managed to blurt out, rather accidentally.

"Deal." She leaned forward and kissed him in front of everyone.

* * *

In the crowd, Sirius muttered, "I can't believe this."

"What?" demanded Alice.

"Her. _Again._"

"What? Do you think she's going to break his heart again?" asked Frank.

"No. But I'm going to lose my best friend all over again. And I think I'm losing him for good this time. He looks so happy," Sirius said, glumly. But a spark appeared in his eyes. "It doesn't matter though. I'm happy for him." He turned to Peter, "Come on Pettigrew, let's leave those two lovebirds up there alone and go into the village for a butterbeer. You two wanna come along?" he asked Alice and Frank grudgingly.

"Why not?" asked Alice, with a grin.

"If you can get us there," Frank said.

"Alright. Oi! Remus! You coming?"

"Yeah, Sirius. I'm coming. I don't want to be stuck with those two," Remus said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Lily and James, still up at the podium together.

The crowd of other students was dispersing as Sirius, Peter, Remus, Alice, and Frank made their way to Hogsmeade together. Lily and James, oblivious to everyone else, stayed together on the podium, kissing and just looking in each other's eyes.

  
**THE END!**

Upcoming stories:

**Can I Keep Him?** A story about Neville

**Inseperable**—A story about Lily and James and not being able to leave each other's side (not by choice!)

**Why I'm Quitting the Canons**—1-shot about Harry being fed up with being a celebrity.

**Work Cut Out For Her**—A story about the tough babysitter who manages to watch all 7 Weasley children at once. Featuring Percy with broken glasses, Bill with a major crush, and Ron's teddy bear.


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